CLpower

On one of my cards I had a special rate that ends in Oct. and my rate will jump to 16.99%. Is this negotiable? My 2 other cards are at around 7.99% and if I can't get the other one lower I'll transfer and cancel. I've had this card the longest though so I'd like to keep it.

jimcol711

you cant negotiate APR like you can prices of a car....they make an offer, you either accept it or you can call and try to complain but 99% of the time, they wont budge for any reason. if you dont carry a balance, just get rid of the card, thats it.

CLpower

yea, but I do carry a balance unfortunately. I have only like $400 on it though, but I'd like to keep this card as it's been w/ me for a few years.

JakeCL

tell them you will close the account if they cant give you a lower rate

jimcol711

you cant pay off 400 bucks in a month? jsut pay it off and keep the card with no balance then

CLpower

no, i'm a student that works part time. Plus I live in rediculously expensive southern cali and I need money for :blaze: :P


I have 2 cards w/ balances on them, I pay atleast $100 on each one every month.

anothercls

You can cancel the card and keep the balance, you will just get charged interest as if you kept the card.

KavexTrax

Transfer the balance to a new card with a better deal, 0% balance transfer, 0% intro rate for 1 yr. etc. then close the account. Once the intro rate is over, find a new card. Then the cycle continues on and on and so forth. Just remember to pay slightly over the min. and on time and you'll be ok.

CLpower

yea, that's basically what I've been doing, but most tell me that's not what to do. And I never pay close to min.

elliot

you're insane if you're spending money on drugs instead of on items you purchased on credit.. sounds like youre exchanging comfort later for "fun" now

Doc.Booty

Ignoring my personal opinion that drugs are a huge waste of money (i can have a lot more fun for a lot less money, but to each his own), you're wasting a surprising amount of money by carrying a balance.

Call the card company, say that you'd like to keep your card but can't afford such a huge increase in interest rates. If you've been with them for a couple years they'll probably cut you some slack. If you haven't been with em that long, they're not worth holding onto.

CLpower

whoooyaaa

the weed thing was a joke. I'm totally comfortable with how I'm handling my debt The only reason my debt is so high is because I just bought new furniture which I pay 0% on for the next 2 years.


This card w/ the 16.99% is the only card I have a balance (just got a statement, have $384 on it) other then the one I have for my sofas which doesn't have me paying any APR on it till July of 2006.

CLpower

You probably never go out and treat yourself to a steadk dinner, or hell go out to a movie, go out w/ your boys to the bars, or stay home and have a few drinks. Probably don't buy yourself a nice pair of shoes and drive a 90 geo storm.


90% of the shit people buy is a HUGE waste of money, nobody needs a nice watch, a nice car, a flat screen plasma TV. Nobody needs to go spend $100 at the bar on a saturday night. BUt why do we work? So we can waste our money

Doc.Booty

I've never spent a penny on alcohol, or bar cover charges, or anything of the sort. I've had the same pair of shoes for 3 or 4 years, and i was forced by my mom to buy this pair.

I have Steak 'n' Shake almost every weekend, does that count as a steak dinner?

I do try and catch a movie a couple times a month.

To each his own, like i said. But to me, i get far better mileage out of my money doing something other than getting high. I spend about $20 on movie, dinner, and gas for a weekend. That's an allowable expense to keep from going nuts. Computer upgrades, car mods, etc. are little presents that take a back seat to paying off debt.

Debt scares me to death, it's way too easy to get into a lot of trouble with it. It's almost never a smart thing to get yourself into.

P.S. relax, $400 isn't the end of the world, i'm just joshing you.

CLpower

I'm TOTALLY w/ you on that one. This is the most debt i've had. Well, I was in pretty good when I bought my computer. I'm very very keen on makeing sure things don't get out of hand as I have way to many "nigger rich" friends that are going to be in for a VERY rude awakening soon. Most of them don't even have jobs and haven't finished school and are like 4-6K in debt on just stupid materilistic shit.

Doc.Booty

"But i NEED to buy these shirts from Express! Who cares if they're $40 a piece, this is the only shade of pink that matches my iPod Mini!"

I have friends who have 15-20k in CC debt. If i had 15k to spend on stuff today, i don't know what i'd buy. A new top of the line computer would be maybe 1.5k. A 6 speed STi tranny for my WRX would be sweet, but that's only about 5k w/ install

jimcol711

if you let debt scare you, you will never get ahead....go buy a house, you CANT let a mortgage balance scare you, fuck it, im in debt over 140k right now with the house and car....do i let that keep me up at night? fuck no. who cares. debt is NOT a scary thing...without debt, you will never build credit, without debt this entire country would fall apart. so many peoples paychecks and jobs are based on the debt of other people, this governement is financed by debt and carries an insane amount of debt. being afraid of debt is a stupid waste of time. its an ESSENTIAL part of life to be in debt, maybe not permenantly, but regardless, it is essential. hell, the tax breaks alone because of my mortgage are fantastic.

CLpower

I hear you, Debt doesn't scare me in that sense. What scares me is getting in over my head. I was totally comfortable spending 2K on each new furniture and a computer as they were things I needed and couldn't buy it at once and hell that's what debt is for, to pay off as you go. It's watching my friends go out to the bars and spend $150 on their CC to pay for their night, knowing they are only going to pay $50 that month. They are around 10K in debt, work part time jobs, still in school, etc. I'm VERY VERY good w/ my money and how I spend it. I rarely truely treat myself to a wastefull purchase. I sat and debated for a good week whether to spend $200 to get my tool box painted, but finally said fuck it because everyonce in awhile you need to spoil yourself.

Doc.Booty

There's a big difference between CC debt and mortage debt. You sure as fuck would be awake at night if you had 140k in credit card debt.