A tinge of desperation lingers in Melanye Moore’s voice when she speaks about her nearly $100,000 debt and the accruing interest. “My financial situation is really in shambles, and I don’t know which way to go with it,” she says.
Due to a pending divorce, Moore, a 39-year-old teacher in Chicago, and her three children had to leave their house overlooking Lake Michigan and move in with her father. Her 2002 Chevy Avalanche was repossessed in 2004 with $15,000 still owed on it, and she had to begin taking public transportation when her replacement car was stolen last year.
Just a few years ago, Moore was living a seemingly dream life. She and her husband, a professional athlete on the European circuit, owned rental property, had multiple cars, sent their children to private school, and sprung for violin and karate lessons. Moore, who was a stay-at-home mom with a degree in education, never wanted for anything.
Her good life began to crumble when her 17-year marriage fell apart. She says her husband stopped paying the bills and sending cash, didn’t file their joint tax return, and moved out. So Moore filed for divorce. “I learned that women should always take care of their finances because when you let a man control your finances and that man is gone, no one is going to help you with them after that.”
Now, Moore pays for everything with cash from her paychecks since cutting up her credit cards, unable to afford the more than $25,000 in charges racked up on them. But she has $30,000 in student loans and worries about how she will pay for her daughter, a high-school senior, to attend college.
Although financial experts applaud Moore for getting rid of those cards and not compiling any new debt in two years, she still needs advice about paying off the old debt, which she hasn’t yet tackled.
Moore is not alone. According to the Federal Reserve Board, Americans have almost doubled their revolving outstanding consumer credit in the past decade from $462 billion in December 1996 to $879 billion in December 2006. Most African Americans know they are in over their heads, with 70% of blacks describing debt as a “serious problem,” compared with only 56% of all respondents to a Center for American Progress survey.
So if the bills are adding up, you’re living paycheck to paycheck, and there is no relief in sight, follow this advice to dig yourself out–one debt at a time.
Create a credit card payment strategy. One place to start, after making a budget, says Joseph Ziegler Jr., a debt reduction expert, is to pay off the card with the lowest balance first. If you make a few sacrifices, like skipping happy hour or making one less $200 purchase (think gadgets and shoes) per month, those savings can be applied toward the debt. The same strategy works with lines of credit and personal loans, too.
“Getting the lowest card paid off gives you a sense of accomplishment,” says Ziegler. Then move on to the next lowest card by applying what you paid on the first card to the next card, plus its minimum balance. Continue to roll over each payment to the next card until they are all paid off, he says. See chart for details. To fight the temptation, opt-out of receiving mail-order credit card solicitations by calling 888-5-OPTOUT.
Pay more than the minimum. Many loans are set up so that the minimum payment goes mostly toward the interest. If you can afford it, triple up on those minimum payments. “The fact of the matter is, if you have $10,000 in cred
it card debt, are paying 15% in interest, and make minimum payments, it will take about 25 years to pay off that debt,” says Lynnette Khalfani, author of Zero Debt for College Grads: From Student Loans to Financial Freedom (Kaplan Publishing; $14.95). “You don’t want to be a slave to the credit card companies.”That’s a strategy 41-year-old Nadine Gavin, a military officer, implemented to get out of debt. “I was an emotional shopper. Whenever I got upset, I went shopping,” she says. But Gavin got those impulses under control so she could pay down her debt and purchase a house.
“Once I paid off one credit card, with a $15 payment, I’d apply that [in addition to the minimum payment] to another credit card. It made a big difference. It made things go by a lot quicker in terms of getting it paid off,” says the mother of two. She does the same thing now with the monthly $1,500 mortgage on her two-story, five-bedroom home in Killeen, Texas, that she moved into in December. Gavin pays an extra $100 a month to reduce the principal and pay the loan off even faster.
Shop for a better rate. When you get a great opportunity for a lower interest rate, go for it. “Instead of the 15% or 22% interest rate you’re currently paying, you can transfer to a card that offers you a 6% or 9% rate to save hundreds or thousands over the course of the year,” says Khalfani, who refinanced an auto loan from the car dealership to another bank and saved $200 per month.
Shop for better rates at sites like www.bankrate .com, and take advantage of offers provided by your bank, credit union, or other lending institutions that offer low rates for transfers. But don’t bounce around too much because doing so results in too many credit inquiries, which can lower your credit score. Also consider debt consolidation, which is taking several debts and converting them into one monthly payment. For more information, read “In Too Deep” (March 2006).
Stop spending–now! As you pay off your credit cards, don’t cancel them, says Ziegler, who for many years hosted Financial Forum, a radio talk show on Chicago’s WVON-AM. “Instead, take all of the credit cards out of your wallet and put them in a jar half full with water. Put the jar in the freezer.” The idea is to keep the cards out of your pockets and limit impulse shopping. “By putting it in your freezer it is not in your pocket, but you have it in a safe place in case you need it in an emergency.”
While your cards are put away, negotiate with creditors to get better rates. You have to be in good standing to get the most out of this deal, which means continuing to pay your bills on time. In addition, use extra cash wisely. Our experts advise against spending your tax refund or bonus check on frivolous purchases. Instead, apply a portion of that to your debt and save the rest.
Pay cash for everything–debts too! Moore, who is studying full time for a second master’s degree in education while working full time and juggling life as a single mom, follows this strategy. “I pay cash-only now,” she says. “If I don’t have the cash, I don’t buy it.”
If you have savings, cash some out. The general rule of thumb is to have three months’ income to use as emergency savings. But if you’re in debt overload, spending some savings
to reduce debt officially qualifies as an emergency. Take at least 25% of your savings and put it toward your debt. “Even when debt interest is at 12%, your investment would have to pay more than 18% before federal and state taxes to equal that outflow of dollars,” according to The Motley Fool, a personal investment Website (www.fool.com). In other words, you’ll get a bigger return by paying off the high-interest debt with savings, which on its own might gain only around 3% to 5%.Find another stream of income. Before we discuss ways to earn more cash, you should know it won’t make any difference if you don’t save it or apply it to your debt. The point is, you have to change not only your income but also your mindset.
Try to find a way to earn some extra money on the side. Everyone does something well that they can do for others, such as cooking or tutoring. You can also perform a service, for example managing a Website, marketing a product like jewelry, or selling your wares on eBay. Ask colleagues about opportunities outside your company or even apply for p
ositions with temporary agencies.
Manage your own finances. Whether sharing finances or flying solo, you should always know three things about your debt: (1) how much you have, (2) how much it’s costing you, and (3) how to deal with it. If you don’t, it will always cost more than you think and take even longer to pay off. The debt may not go away overnight, but with discipline and by following these steps, it will shrink a lot sooner.
Warning Signs of Debt Overload:
- Using credit cards to pay for other credit card bills
- Skipping payments because you can’t afford them
- Constantly switching cards to get a lower interest rate on a new card
- Arguing with your partner about the bills
- Losing sleep or stressing out about your debt
- Using your credit cards to make everyday purchases, like gas
- Not knowing how much debt you owe
- Getting calls from creditors