CREDIT CARD DEBT!!

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Hello All-

I am need of help. To make a long story short my husband and I had to live off credit cards most of last year due to a lay off. I am now in nursing school full time(just recently) and I have about $23k in credit card debt!! I just quit my full time job and planned on going to school full time without working. I am realizing that this is just not an option. I just got 6k a semester for financial aid and planned on paying it on my credit cards so that it would be at a lower interest rate. The way I see it, either way I am in debt and it would be better to be at 4% interest (roughly) than 24% on my credit cards. My plan is to go find a job asap at least part time and work on staying above water. Our monthly bills are high but my husband is back at work and making decent money so I think if I can at least get a part time job we will be ok. Should I look into debt consolidation?? Any other suggestions are greatly appreciated!!

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Debt consolidation might be an option. But you still need to get a job to help with this. Glad you were able to get financial aid for school. Just start on one of the cards to pay off first, either the one with the lowest balance or the one with the highest interest rate, and give it any extra money you can throw at it, while keeping the others at minimum payment. That is a good strategy that many use to their advantage. Then, as each card is paid off, send that payment amount to the next card, until all of them are gone. Good luck with this. You can do it. But don't let all of this bother your studying for school!

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Thanks for the encouragement!! I am going to look for a job Monday. I have heard good and bad things about debt consolidation but I am going to look into it to find out my options. Thank goodness for my financial aid!!

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If it were me, I would not do debt consolidation. I would like to see each credit card, one by one, start to show up as paid on my credit report. You also have more flexibility, because if you change your mind about the order that you want to attack them, or the amounts, you can make your own changes. The other way, you are stuck and in more trouble, if you come up short. JMO

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Yea I really get nervous just thinking about debt consolidation. I just did my tax return and I am going to put it all on one of my credit cards!! I think you have the right idea by just working on paying them down. It is going to be my goal to get these at least down to half the amount owed!! Thanks for you help;)

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Check out Dave Ramsay. You can access his show on http://www.hulu.com and he has a book or two out, as well as a radio show. He is the guru of paying off all your debts. Some people on this site have mentioned that they have changed their financial lives around by following his suggestions. I enjoy listening to his show on the radio. You would be surprised how fast you can pay those credit cards down once you get started. Good luck.

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Sweet!!! I am going to check it out today!! Thanks for the great info!!

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