/biz/ - Business & Finance

>>56104759
>24k credit card debt?
Stop buying shit. Just fucking stop. You don't need any of it.

>>56104871
It went to paying rent mostly.

Settle it for $11k find out who owns the debt and tell them ah jeez dood i got nine thousand cash right now to settle it (you can do this yourself)

it is basically 100% of the time a better idea to save about half what you owe and go to them directly and offer to pay them that much. 9/10 times they'll say yes. even if that means waiting 3-6 months to save that kind of money you'll at least be liberated, whereas debt relief is really just debt slavery.

or just wait and let it fall off. but seven years is a long, long time. and they have tricks to reset that clock.

>>56104759
debt settlement companies don't provide any unique service; you can save money by doing everything yourself.

how to DIY debt settlement:
1) stop paying your credit card bills. After 180 days they'll be charged off and will no longer accrue interest.
2) when you banks call you asking you to make a payment, tell them to stop calling you. Legally, they have to stop calling you if you ask.
3) start saving money. This is the money you're going to use to settle with your banks.
4) around tax season (March~April) send a letter to every bank to whom you owe money and ask if they'll agree to "pay for delete" in exchange for 30% of what you owe. You can google templates for writing your pay for delete letters; it's easy.
5) if they reject 30% then next year try offering 40%. If they reject 40% then the following year try 50%. Then continue offering 50% every year until they agree to wipe out your debt in exchange for 50% of what you owe.

that's it. This is literally all debt settlement companies are doing. You can do it yourself and save thousands of dollars.

the only good reason to use a debt settlement company is if you have such poor self-control that step 3 is impossible for you.

>>56105041
Thanks for the tip. I signed up yesterday but I canceled this morning after doing more research on the subject. Your post helped a lot.

>>56105820
If you're really hosed but still have decent credit you can also get a debt consolidation loan to pay off your debts now so they stop fucking you like a loaded freight train ten minutes late to the station and you can go from sweating 25% apr every month to 6-10% depending on how fucked your credit is. If you're not hugely upside down or need to reduce what you're paying off in interest while still touching the principal there's better solutions.

>>56105869
Yeah, I'm looking into that right now. Thanks.

>>56104933
Lmaooo look guys, he's the meme!

>>56105820
you're welcome fren

>>56105820
also I'm glad you saw reason and cancelled; there was a guy on /biz/ a week or two ago who I explained all of this to, and yet he didn't believe me and started bragging that "his lawyers" from National Debt Relief are "fucking up" the lawyers from the banks... lol sure buddy