turbotax icon
turbotax icon
turbotax icon
turbotax icon
cancel
Showing results for 
Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Announcements
Close icon
Do you have a TurboTax Online account?

We'll help you get started or pick up where you left off.

Connect with an expert
x
Do you have an Intuit account?

Do you have an Intuit account?

You'll need to sign in or create an account to connect with an expert.

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

I'm having trouble with credit cards. The payments keep getting larger

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

Reading this gave me an aneurysm. Please formulate sentences correctly before responding to important matters! Lol

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

 DO NOT! I repeat, DO NOT follow the advice of "close all credit card accounts" unless you want to seriously hurt your score. 

 

RaG's advice of paying off credit cards in ascending order based on interest rate is a tried and true method, you also need to NOT put anymore debt on these cards. Use this method if you want to slowly stop the bleeding and you don't have the credit for the next option.

 

If you have good credit and you use a credit union, see if they have any deals going on with credit cards. Some will offer no interest credit cards for 2 years with no transfer fees. You could consolidate all card debt onto one card that has no interest, which will give you time to breathe and stop the interest rate hemorrhaging. After you have zero balance on the cards you just transferred, you DO NOT USE THEM AGAIN until you have paid back every penny of this debt. This is going to require self control so you don't keep digging yourself deeper into a hole. 

 

Start making big payments on the new card (basically add up all of the minimum payment requirements for each card, and how much interest you were being charged and whatever else you can add to the monthly payment of that card). If your debt to income ratio is very high, I'd recommend making a strict budget and sticking to it until you've paid this card back before they start charging you interest. 

 

Either one of these will work if you're willing to acknowledge your problem and deal with it using these methods. The interest rates on these cards are going to absolutely murder you. Never use more than 15% of your total credit limit at any given time! That's a general rule of thumb. 

CeCe1
New Member

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

Not true. To close an account leaves a bad mark on your credit. It doesn’t matter if it is paid off or not. It will read as a “closed” account. If I were you to say your credit, try to make arrangements to make a payment you can afford monthly so that you reduce the bill and can still handle the payment. I’m sure they will work with you. They want your money and you want your good credit. It’s a win win.
Spender
New Member

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

If you close your credit account it will really mess with your credit score

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

You should actually never close the account. If you cut the card and keep the account open then your credit score will rise.

Jyak
Level 1

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

Get a credit card with 0% interest introduction period. Transfer all your debt to it. Pay down as much as possible till the end of the intro period. Then do it again with another card. Continue this till the debt is eliminated. You may have to pay a one time transfer fee but 3% one time is much better than what’s going on now and you will start to make real progress. It worked for me and my credit score is around 800 and I eleininated all my debt.
RaggedyAnnLuv
Returning Member

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

It took me 3 years, and now I’m at $0 debts. I started with the highest interest, and worked myself down.

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

A friend of mine did the avalanche and she said it helped a lot. I'm thinking of doing the same.
mzabibu
New Member

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

I did cut up my credit cards and this helped remove the temptation to use the credit cards and only make payments toward the balances. It works.

AK3
Level 2

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

O.K. if you pay off one credit card, Then how does the other credit card get paid? I have Two Credit cards,  (closed) . I'm having a hard time paying what I owe, I have enough to pay one but what happens to the one I can't pay? It would take me at least a year to pay off one card, while giving nothing to the other card, because what I can pay is going to one card.

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

You should be making at least the minimum payment on all your debts. With two cards, you make the minimum payment on one and extra payments above the minimum on the other until it's paid off. If you can only afford the minimum payment for one card, then you need to reevaluate your spending habits and stop charging purchases to your credit cards. Pay all your bills first and then budget out the remainder of your money to any extra purchases, like going out/eating out, getting coffee, new clothes, etc.

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

If you have extra money for going out, coffee, and clothes, you are likely not experiencing a serious debt crisis.  If you can truly only pay the minimum on one card with no going out, no coffee, no clothes, so be it. But do be honest with yourself here, and kind to yourself. One year is not that long in the financial world to pay off that one card. Then you can work on the other. Yes, your other card may go into default and into collection in the meantime, and yes, it may hurt your credit score and be a pretty awful experience for you. It may take years for your credit to recover. Still, it is not the end of the world. Sometimes when accounts go into collection, companies offer to settle with you for a fraction of the amount owed. I am not advocating financial carelessness or irresponsibility, which hurts all of us, but I would encourage you to be honest with yourself and consider other factors in addition to your credit score when determining how to get out from under your debt, if that is truly what you want to do.

Jyak
Level 1

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

Consolidate all on one card with a balance transfer.
Kml21411
New Member

HELP! I'm struggling to keep up with my credit card payments

Credit for a vehicle
Use your Intuit Account to sign in to TurboTax.
By selecting Sign in, you agree to our Terms and acknowledge our Privacy Statement.
message box icon

Get more help

Ask questions and learn more about your taxes and finances.

Post your Question
Manage cookies