topic Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan? in Credit cards

Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

CatStevens — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 21:20:17 GMT

Hi! I am looking for advice on lowering my debt as it seems my credit cards keep rising up and up. I pay off my min. balance very month but my balance only seems to go up and not down. I have 5 cards and I heard from a friend that I could get a personal loan to pay them off and then pay the loan. Curious if anyone has ever done this or it would something like this help me????

Any advice would be great.

Thanks!

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Lady1scorp — Tue, 31 Jul 2018 22:30:57 GMT

Yes. Your friend is correct, I have done this before with my credit union. You have to apply for a personal loan, they ask how much you would like or they obtain a copy of your credit report. Whatever is your total credit card balance, let's say $5000 they pay off $5000 and you make low monthly payments on the loan amount and in return your credit cards are at a $0 balance.

Remember this is subject to approval from your bank.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Thintoast — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 16:50:22 GMT

If you're having trouble paying off credit cards, a debt consolidation personal loan is a great way to go. They're lower interest and you can't continue to add to the balance with new purchases. The reason your credit cards seem to be going up instead of down is that you continue to accrue interest on the balance. To make things simple, I'll just throw out some realistic but imaginary numbers...

Balance: $5000

Minimum payment: $150

Interest: 14.99%

Without doing actual math, the 14.99% interest is applied to the balance at a specific point in time each month. Let's say that interest is $50 based on the info above. Let's also say you make the minimum payment of $150 that month. You would expect your balance to be $4850, right? Well, without making ANY purchases, the balance on the next statement is $4900, because they'll apply the interest to your balance before sending you the next bill. Make a purchase of only $100 and you'll be right back where you started. In essence, you paid your balance down by $100 and then gave the credit card company $50 that month to maintain your debt.

If you're not familiar with this and really understand this, it's kind of an eye opener and can get a lot of people into financial trouble.

Credit consolidation loans (through a reputable financial institution and not one of those mailbox solicitors) can be a great way to reduce your debt. There's no surprise fees and you can't add debt on top of it. HOWEVER... and I can't stress this enough... the only REAL way to reduce your debt is to change your spending habits. The best way to do this? DESTROY YOUR CREDIT CARDS. The trap most people fall into is the one where they get a personal loan to pay off their cards, then go right back to using them because hey now there's plenty of room on the card for me to make this one purchase and then pay it off at the end of the month. One purchase turns into 2, then you take a vacation because your card can afford it. Purchases pile up VERY quickly, and the interest is VERY high. 6 months down the line you now have a personal loan payment and your credit cards are back to where they started.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

RackOps — Sat, 03 Nov 2018 16:44:22 GMT

I've done it, and it works, but it only works if you get your spending under control at the same time. I used rocket loans, as they offered better terms than my bank.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

darrob10 — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 11:17:35 GMT

No, but I would like to, so my payment would be one freeing up my money

Ok Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

darrob10 — Tue, 20 Nov 2018 11:18:30 GMT

No, but I would like to, so my payment would be one freeing up my money

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

darlingnnikki121 — Wed, 21 Nov 2018 03:53:22 GMT

I consolidated about 30k in credit card debt into a personal loan through sofi, in a year i have paid off over 4k of it and improved my credit score by over 100 points. I feel like the number is coming down now instead of going up. The interest rate is at 11% which is lower then all of the cards the lowest rate was like 17 the highest 22. I feel like I made the right call it also made it easier for me to plan just one payment and be able to pay extra toward on thing instead of like 10. Hope this helps

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

_brian — Fri, 30 Nov 2018 18:22:26 GMT

Awesome to hear !

How'd you learn about taking out that loan to make it easier? Any tips or things you'd change in the process you used?

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Raptorfun — Sat, 08 Dec 2018 18:09:49 GMT

I am doing this right now. My loan is 0% apr for the first 24 months which will help me in paying off my debt while not having to worry about interest.

I can tell you that paying off my 6 cards with a loan has boosted my score significantly. As for the payments I have a 60 day grace period before I need to start. We have consolidated my amounts into one easy affordable payment.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Itsmrmt2u — Tue, 11 Dec 2018 06:45:31 GMT

My credit is just fair, I just got a $15000 loan through prosper, I did the 3 year payment is a little high of $509 per month but still cheaper then what I was paying per month and my interest rate is 13% way lower then the credit cards I had
Check prosper.com it worked for me

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

DaveT315 — Fri, 28 Feb 2020 15:10:43 GMT

A debt consolifdation loan from a reputable agency can help but not if you don't get your spending under constrol. Credit counseling organizations are often nonprofits that offer people advice and help them create plans for paying off their debts and gaining control of their financial situation. Look for a National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) accredited organization if you’re considering this route. Some companies will want to charge you an up-front fee. Do shop around for the best deal you can get.

Consolidation isn’t a cure-all. Before consolidating, you may want to figure out why you wound up with the debt. Then you can work on solving the cause of the problem.

If your credit is OK you might consider using a HELOC loan on your house to pay off credit card debt, then close the credi accounts you don't really need. Free balance transfers between credit cards may also be an option, but only if tyou pay more than the minimum payment each month to reduce your debt.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

bertandphil3 — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 22:03:05 GMT

Hi,
I was told the same thing so I consolidated all of my credit cards into a personal loan and it has freed up so much money and taken away a ton of stress. One payment every month for 5 years and they are paid off. The interest rate is lower then my CC’s and there is no pre-payment penalty if you want to make extra payments.
I hope this helps!!
Roberta

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

bertandphil3 — Thu, 13 Dec 2018 22:10:21 GMT

I agree 100% with this statement, very well written, but would also like to add that when people read to “destroy” your credit cards after they are paid off is sometime misconstrued as close the accounts. All of the literature I have read states to keep the accounts open and that closing them will impact your credit score in a negative way. So by saying ”destroy” your credit card should mean just cut it up or lock it up and don’t use it again. I hope this helps.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

DaveT315 — Fri, 28 Feb 2020 15:09:04 GMT

For someone overwhelmed with credit card debt and seeking a consolidation loan, most likely the credit score has already been hit hard. The problem with the onsolidation loan is that once the credit card debt has been converted to a personal loan, the credit cards get maxxed out all over again and the financial situation is even worse than before. It is not always bad advice to close extra credit card accounts.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Jrock11418 — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 00:44:48 GMT

I don’t mean to steal the thread but where did you get the 0% intersts for 24 months on the the loan? I mean I have heard of credit cards giving 0% rates on balance transfers for extended period of time, but this is a first loan for debt consolidation I have ever heard 0% interest for 24 months. And on $30,000. That’s excellent!!

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Yunior718 — Fri, 14 Dec 2018 02:23:10 GMT

Of course, you can talk to your bank to have a single debt.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

LittleBird614 — Sat, 15 Dec 2018 02:12:14 GMT

Hey @RaptorFun. That sounds great! Where are you getting your 0% for 24 mos? I’ve been wanting to do this but concerned about reputable places.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Oaksmom — Sat, 15 Dec 2018 16:54:55 GMT

Yes. My husband & I did this about 2 years ago & with the interest rates decreased we were actually able to pay off our debt a lot faster. We started with NINE accounts being added & now we are down to ONE! Just in 2 years. I would recommend a debt consolidation to anyone that needs help! We used Cambridge consolidation & have loved them!

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

TexOkie — Tue, 18 Dec 2018 08:07:36 GMT

We did this. We own a newer truck that had been paid off for awhile. We used the truck as our collateral and took out a loan against it. Now both our score went up. However, I strongly advise you to be diligent NOT to start charging on those cards again! It's tough to discipline yourself. Good luck and Merry Christmas!!!

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

davettalouise — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 05:17:53 GMT

I’d only recommend this if you are truly ready. I’ve done it twice and the first time, I wasn’t serious nor was I focused so I ended up in more debt. However, the second time around is better because I literally froze my cc’s and deleted my autofills.

Also, if you have a credit union bank account your interest rate will be a lot lower. You can also try lending club or discover loan.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Tha_B_Man — Fri, 21 Dec 2018 14:52:35 GMT

Another loan is not the answer unless you intend to cut up the CCs after you pay them off. Personally I would use the debt snowball to attack the cards. Make minimum payments on all cards except the one with the smallest balance. Pay as much as you can on that one until payed off. Rinse and repeat until all cards are payed off.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Beccadenise4 — Mon, 31 Dec 2018 01:22:57 GMT

I have used a few companies for this, SoFi is a winner! They're awesome!

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

hollyteniele — Sat, 12 Jan 2019 17:28:45 GMT

I did. I went to my local credit union and took out a personal loan. The intrest was lower so I saved there and paid more every month lowering my debt. The big thing is that you have to shred your credit cards bc if you don’t you’ll end up with a loan and credit cards. Shoot for shredding the cards until the loan is paid and then have one company send you a replacement. If you max it out again then you really need to work on your spending habbits.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

vivjam — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 07:18:54 GMT

I have done this more than once. Its great to do if you don`t use your cards again. I did because I`m a single mom. Now she is grown I don`t have to use my cards. I do just to keep them open but I pay them off as soon as possible. It help me.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

tere — Sun, 20 Jan 2019 12:51:03 GMT

I enrolled on a debt counceling program (In Charge) I didn’t want to consolidate with a personal loan because I can’t control myself from using my credit cards so this program lowers the interest on your credit cards (sometimes to 0%) and also close your credit cards so I’m not able to use them anymore, they just charge a small monthly fee which is a lot better than paying all that interest every month, it didn’t affect my credit score so that was a good thing for me

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Nattybobattyyy — Sun, 27 Jan 2019 00:07:06 GMT

Hi. I’m sure you’ve already gotten a loan or something. But, i highly Recommend getting a loan through lending club. I consolidated My debt through them last year and have been making one payment every month. My interest rate was super low and it’s the same amount every month for three years.
It actually brought my credit up as well.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

csenart53 — Mon, 28 Jan 2019 23:23:53 GMT

I did and it dropped our payment down under 200 a month.but our debt was under 8000.So it depends on what you have

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Antz2345 — Wed, 30 Jan 2019 22:33:39 GMT

Oh Consolidated I really don't think that I have ever Consolidated. Debt are anything in that matter. To whom it may Concern . can someone send me a text message . then we can go from their thanks.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

ChelleW — Thu, 31 Jan 2019 07:11:41 GMT

@Raptorfun, where did you get a loan for 0% interest??! That’s incredible. I’ve seen CC’s with introductory rates like that but never on a personal loan.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Megabite88 — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 06:13:39 GMT

@raptorfun hey 👋 this sounds amazing for something I’d like to do just don’t know where to start?! Where and how did you do this?! I have 4 cards but still paying them each month except 1 that never credited me back money from a merchant who messed up long
Story so I stopped paying them as I faxed over receipts showing merchant putting amount back on my credit card as the company though did not and I called them 1000s of times and they did nothing for me! Anyways so that one I just wanna pay off and cut up and the others I wanna pay into 1 payment.. 1 of mine is a money transfer Rewards card so I believe I can transfer all to that card and have 1 payment right?! Or did u get a loan and how if I have fair credit had 640 but because of this issue above it has gone down but is still fair..any suggestions and I’m in FL...

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Megabite88 — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 06:21:59 GMT

What did you do?!!
This sounds something I’d like to do?! Do they actually pay off all your cards and you pay them monthly?! Like 1 of mine I stopped paying because they never helped me they never put money back on my account that a merchant messed up on and I faxed them over receipts and all and of course they never got them as they say! Which is bull! But the other 3 I pay every month but I’m just about to my limit
On them and just paying the monthly rn as I’m a stay at home mom for the time being..I also have a MasterCard rewards card that is also a balance transfer card too?! But one card as I stated is closed and obviously adding up.. would u recommend this?!

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

vivjam — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 06:46:57 GMT

You can have all transferred to one card or apply for a loan and pay them all off. If you have a credit card that also gives you checks that are interest free for a year I would do that first to help your score go up and pay as much as you can off in that year then try to get a loan. You know your situation so look at what's best for you.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Megabite88 — Fri, 01 Feb 2019 06:59:43 GMT

A credit card that gives me checks? I have a good credit card that’s a balance transfer a rewards card MasterCard capital one and i don’t know what’s best for me a loan or a consolidation on just the one card that I want off my credit the others I use but are high up there but still paying them so ok thanks for your help.. just don’t know how to do it when I have only roughly 600$ on one to pay off and if wanted to do all roughly 2,200$ that’s all and you paid off 30k or consolidated 30k jw how so much and through who where do I look ?! I guess I’ll ask around thanks

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

twinside — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 18:11:27 GMT

Yes, I’ve done this. It probably will save you money, but here’s the trick: You can’t go back to using the credit card and only paying minimum payments. Consolidate into a personal loan, and see if they’ll give you enough to pay off the balance PLUS $1000. If they will, the other $1000 becomes your emergency fund. LEAVE IT ALONE and use it only for things like your water heater goes boom or you lose your job. Consider tucking aside an extra say $50 off each paycheck to augment that fund. That will keep you from having to tap the credit card for rainy-day expenses.

Important to note: Minimum payments on a credit card aren’t enough to keep your balance from rising. You need to pay the interest for the month and a portion of the principal each month to get the balance to actually go down.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

twinside — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 18:14:09 GMT

Check out Sofi. I did pretty well with them; if you have access to a credit union, that’s even better.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

ChelleW — Tue, 05 Feb 2019 20:04:10 GMT

I just applied for a personal loan through lending club to Refinance our Lowe’s card. We remodeled our kitchen and pay more than the minimum every month but the balance is still pretty high after a few years of paying on it The interest rate they offered is 5.89% with an apr 7.95%. :). Just waiting for the determination. Fingers crossed they give it to me. I’ll be able to pay it off in about two years if I continue to pay the same amount we cure pay. Plus it will help my credit as I don’t have a lot of accounts. This will up my available credit, shrink my used credit ratio and add a different type of account as right now I only have credit cards on my report. Praying the Lord makes it happen.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

JustUsJeepin3 — Wed, 06 Feb 2019 01:43:41 GMT

Hey Cat!

Yes, you can consolidate but it might not save you much. In addition, you might actually get a bigger interest rate. If your credit is not great, you most likely won't get that personal, unsecured loan.

Once again, the interest rates went up at the beginning of the year so you will see an increase in your payment, finance charge and balance (UGH!). The fastest way to pay off credit card debt is to always pay the minimum + the finance charge each month. You will notice the balance drop. As the balance drops, the minimum payment as well as the finance charge will decrease. However, if you maintain the same payment, you will be adding to the principal payment and pay those nasty cards off even faster. It takes time but like you, I'm also antsy to pay them off faster.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Msantana — Sat, 09 Feb 2019 23:07:07 GMT

Well I did try and they turn me down cause of my credit score do to the fact I was only paying the minimum on my credit cards. In the mean time that is what affect my score.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Beazy — Sun, 10 Feb 2019 02:39:26 GMT

I did, I used a subsidiary of SunTrust called lightstream. Their interest rates were pretty good compared to my card's rates.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Jakechef5 — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 07:38:10 GMT

What if because you got swallowed by your credit cards, the bank won't approve you for a $3000 dollar personal loan to consolidate your debt? Are you just stuck floatin up 💩's creek without paddles now?

🚫💳

Jakechef5 — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 07:43:27 GMT

🚫💳

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Shook — Mon, 11 Feb 2019 17:32:35 GMT

From my understanding you should try not to transfer balances or close accounts. For some reason that doesn’t look good for your score

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

santoast68 — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 14:24:17 GMT

Hi! I had been looking for a way to consolidate about $30,000 of credit card debt for a year or so and just last month I got an offer in the mail from Best Egg (it's a play on "Nest Egg" which, unbelievably, it took me weeks to figure out). I'd tried Lending Tree and SoFi and a few others and none would give me the length/term I wanted or a decent interest rate so I passed. Best Egg gave me three years and 7.99%. The application process took less than half an hour, I was approved within a day, and had the money in my checking account two days after that. I cannot recommend them highly enough. Like, if you could fanboy over a financial lending institution, I totally would. Check them out.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Skimaiden07 — Wed, 13 Feb 2019 15:58:24 GMT

Can you suggest a reputable consolidation company??

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

smr3439 — Thu, 14 Feb 2019 23:53:18 GMT

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

sandrasarria — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 01:22:28 GMT

Im trying to pay off 1 credit that does not go down just keeps going up.I thought of getting a personal loan any suggestions.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Tene — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 13:45:02 GMT

https://ttlc.intuit.com/community/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/19308; What company did you use??

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

AnonFire — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 01:58:31 GMT

I am currently doing this. Small loan but I made sure to get an interest rate lower than the cards. Also I pay less per month than with all the cards. Most importantly, do NOT rack up new debt on those cards and do NOT close them. It should help your credit score too.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

kjbaac11412 — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 15:12:49 GMT

What loan company did you use? I'm interested.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

AnonFire — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 16:19:05 GMT

I went through Lending Club. You need fairly good credit to get a loan but not perfect. I had about 671 credit score when I got the loan. Funds deposited in less than a week. Payment auto debit so I’ll never miss a payment. Better but not great interest rate. Depends on your credit score. But I’m making my way to debt freedom. Hope this helped

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Pieface — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 16:22:24 GMT

Do you have a list of reputable loan consolidation agencies

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Pieface — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 16:34:31 GMT

Who did you use? Sounds like a great solution

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Pieface — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 16:41:07 GMT

I would love to know also did you find out?

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Pieface — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 16:46:21 GMT

Me too... would like to know if you found out who this person used. I'm looking for a reputable company also

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

kjbaac11412 — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 18:49:17 GMT

That helps! Thank you!

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

tova — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 02:47:03 GMT

You can also apply for a credit card balance transfer, they should give you 12 to 18 months interest free. Great way to bring down the balance faster and put all the credit cards on one payment plan.

tova

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Nate86 — Tue, 19 Feb 2019 17:48:53 GMT

I’ve personally never consolidated my credit card debt. However, if your balances on 5 cards is so high that making your minimum payment doesn’t pay any of the cards down, then a debt consolidation loan may be for you. If some of your cards are getting paid down you can keep doing what your doing, once a card is paid off, apply that amount to the next card nearest to being paid off, and so on and so fourth. Once you get to the 5th card, you’d be applying the same amount each month to that one card as you were to all 5 together. It is important that whether you get a loan,or use the snowball method I just described, you need to stop using those cards. The last thing you need when your trying to get out of your hole is a bigger hole. Once you are free and clear of that debt, don’t use your cards for just the sake of thinking you have money to spend. Purchase only what you can afford to take care of each month, such as gas or groceries, and pay it down each billing cycle. Be sure to put those expenses in a separate account as you make your credit card purchases to ensure that those monies are available when the bill comes in. Maintenance in that fashion will keep you free from this kind of situation again, and keep credit available for an emergency such as a new transmission for your car or furnace for your house. Good luck on your endeavor!

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

shereeferr — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 12:59:10 GMT

Hi Raptorfun,

What bank/institution did you use for your loan? That is about the equivalent for my husband and I, plus I have over 70K in student loans on top of that. My husband was out of work for 4 years! We had to rack up credit card debt, since we had a brand new baby at the time which comes with tons of expenses. I am having a hard time finding the right institution to apply to.

Thanks so much.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Abraham — Sat, 23 Feb 2019 16:55:08 GMT

In my experience in my personal life I feel like I could just give you an opinion because at the end of this opinion, follows your decision. So is important to get that since the beginning. What do I mean? Well because my opinion follows with a pad that we don’t want to take, and that includes totally the opposite of what brought you to this confusing situation. If we try to get off from debt to have a peace of mind it will sink you deeper if you don’t follow up with your plan of making just one payment. Regardless of good loan that you where able to get with good credit history. At the end it all comes to your decision. If you know yourself and you know you can maintain by not going more into debt then it makes since, but still live room for unexpected sircumstances like water damage I got to replace the whole floor but your the only one that knows what you may have problems later. In my situation was not enough income and that payment I couldn’t do because of sircumstaces that we know it could happen but we go on in life like it will never happen to me. Sorry if my opinion confuses you more but I was about to exit from this app and I saw this question. God bless

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Sjadams — Tue, 26 Feb 2019 23:27:12 GMT

Highly recommend you do that, you will not be sorry! I did it a couple years ago. With a loan you will get much lower interest rates than you probably get on the credit cards. I highly recommend using a credit union though rather than bank if you do decide to go this route. I got a loan from Wells Fargo to pay off my credit cards. Wells Fargo was only charging me17% interest. But my 13 credit cards all ranged from 19.99-29.99% so figured 17% was better than 20%+. After paying on that loan for about 7 months we opened up a savings at a credit union, (just needed to deposit $5 in the savings and keep it there to keep account open) so I called the credit union to see what terms were for personal loan through them and was able to get same $ amount with interest at 8%. My payments were almost cut in half and it amazes me how fast my balance continues to go down every month. I know how discouraging it is to feel like yourmonthly payment is just going to interest and the balance barely goes down if at all. I was so pleased I did the same with my car loan. The bank was charging me 18% interest and whenwe switched over to the credit union they did it with interest at 3%. And again, I’m amazed at how fast the balance continues to drop!

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

CJL8959 — Thu, 28 Feb 2019 00:13:08 GMT

Which company did you go through for your personal loan.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Mrsladyj — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 08:29:09 GMT

A deletion expert told me that I could get a loan pay off the card then pay him with the card and my loans so it'll be one payment

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

CJL8959 — Mon, 04 Mar 2019 11:47:37 GMT

I’m trying to pay off all credit cards, if I get a personal loan pay off then credit card and then turn around to pay the deletion expert. I would be back in the same position using my credit cards.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

CST63 — Fri, 08 Mar 2019 19:41:32 GMT

This should be a last resort option. If you can only make the minimum payments then you are spending more than you can afford. Start by putting your credit card(s) somewhere other than your wallet. Look at the interest rates on your cards and start by paying extra on the highest rate card. Even if you pay $5 or $10 extra a month that will help pay down your balance. Ideally you should look at the amount of interest you are paying each month and paying at least that much extra to help lower the interest paid. Pay the minimum due on the other cards until you get one card paid in full. Then take the amount you were paying on that card and add it to the minimum payment on the next highest interest rate card. Continue this until you have paid off all your credit cards. If you have a car loan add the amount saved from the paid off cards to your car payment until you pay it in full. This will reduce the amount of interest you pay as well as the amount of time on the loan. When you are debt free take the amount of the car payment and put that in your savings account to be used for emergencies. You should have at least six months worth of income set aside for emergencies, a year's worth is much better.

Tax laws are changing so keep an eye on home mortgage interest, within the next couple of years we may not be able to deduct this from our taxes. You might want to look at setting up a fund for your mortgage that can be used to pay down your mortgage if we can no longer deduct the interest.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

MattyIce — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 07:21:27 GMT

I just did that last week and I’m glad I did. Just make sure you are not paying more than what you have been paying separately with the payments all together with you credit card debt or it’s pointle

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

CJL8959 — Tue, 12 Mar 2019 07:24:54 GMT

Who did you go through, my concern is being scammed. Since there seem to be so many choices.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Bluebonnet — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 09:57:35 GMT

Same here. Getting ready to finish paying off 33K in the next month. I went thru Lending Club. Love them!!!

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

MattyIce — Thu, 14 Mar 2019 14:04:42 GMT

I did mine through navy federal

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

lj8576 — Sat, 16 Mar 2019 18:01:47 GMT

Did the consolidation work for you? Do you have a good credit score?

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

CreditCarl — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 01:13:35 GMT

Did that last year, didnt want to wait for my refund to pay off my card so I got a very low interest loan from my bank (it was low becuase I choose the 3 year pay off.) If I payed it off before the first year I would haveto pay a charge, so I used the money to invest (becuase my refund at that point could pay it off at any time) and payed it off after the end of 1rst year. Hiked my credit score too to around 750!!

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Bluebonnet — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 02:22:11 GMT

I'm almost finished paying mine off and each month my scores goes up, up, up. Also this month all three bureaus removed an erroneous derogatory mark and I went from a 648 to 791 with Experian. Before the derogatory hit several months ago, my Experian had come up to 760 from 660. Then dropped really low but was climbing with each payment I made to Lending Club. I will kiss the ground once I pay it all off! This stuff really works!

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

lj8576 — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 14:29:04 GMT

Did you change your spending habits

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Bluebonnet — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 15:55:14 GMT

Indeed. That's the only way my scores continued to go up each month. If not, they would have stayed the same.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

lj8576 — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 16:41:15 GMT

Did you get a loan or did you balance transfer to a card with 0% intro rate

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

lj8576 — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 16:43:53 GMT

Did you get a decent rate with lending club? Sorry for all the questions. I am in the same boat and I am trying to decide to do a lender like that or a bank

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

lj8576 — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 16:45:30 GMT

I am trying to decide to go with lender or bank. Did you get a decent interest rate

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Bluebonnet — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 16:56:01 GMT

Years ago after a home purchase I took out a personal loan with my bank and it was 14K at 10.19%. With Lending Club I borrowed 35K at 14.52%. I think it depends on other individual factors such as debt to income ratio (mine was high), so you could stand to get much better rates than me. Get a quote from both.

I called my bank and got full details before committing. Same with Lending Club, they had a myriad of plan options to choose from before making the final decision.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

lj8576 — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 17:02:00 GMT

Thank you so much

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Dodgemandan23 — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 16:49:27 GMT

Which company did you go with?

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

moneyman — Fri, 22 Mar 2019 19:49:12 GMT

Another suggestion is to take a plastic container, fill it with water, and add your credit cards, then pop them in the freezer so they are in a solid block of ice. They are still with you, but it will take a while for the ice to melt so you can use them. A cure for impulse buys, but they are there if you really need them.

I don't remember where I read this, but it sounds like it might work for you.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Smccue3060 — Fri, 29 Mar 2019 23:05:35 GMT

Yes, I have done it in a couple of different ways. First thing you must be committed to is to change your spending habits before you consider doing a consolidation loan. Never spend more than you can afford to pay off each month on any cards that now have a zero balance. If you do, you'll find yourself worst off in a year than you are now.

My first method was a balance transfer loan from another credit card company. They offered 0% for 24 months. There was a 3% transfer charge. So say if my credit card balance was 10,000, the total loan was 10,300. I was committed to getting this paid off in the 24 months so I made equal payments of roughly $430 a month. If you go this route, you must be COMMITTED to get your spending under control and pay off in the allotted time. Otherwise interest rate increased to over 20% apr after 24 month period. I probably saved thousands of dollars with this method.

I have also used Prosper to consolidate my CC balances. Depending upon your credit rating, you can get a 3 to 5 year loan from around 6% up to 15% apr. Both methods will benefit you if you dont put new charges on your existing CCs. It will definitely hurt you if you continue to accrue balances on your CCs.

Do some research and find out what will work best for you. If you have a long standing history with your bank or credit union, you may get a lower interest rate on a loan.

Good luck. It feels great not having all that CC debt looming over you every month. BTW, my credit rating went up considerably a few months after I paid off my CCs. My CR is in the low 800s now. One more advantage to paying them off!

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Dholloway07 — Wed, 03 Apr 2019 19:22:36 GMT

Hi, I was wondering who you went through? I want to do this so I can improve my score.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

JJWill209 — Wed, 03 Apr 2019 20:34:18 GMT

I went through Hickam Federal Credit Union. But most banks will do a consolidation loan. You just need to shop around for interest rates. Just ask them about it and get all the info. Contact me if you need anything else or have anymore questions.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

konajode — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 17:30:17 GMT

I know this thread is old but for anyone considering it I wanted to recommend checking out Best Egg because I was denied a bank personal loan but got approved with them and I have been really happy with them overall! There are no early payoff fees, hidden interest, etc. They even have flexible payment options if you need to skip a payment (I don't recommend doing this but its nice they offer it so your credit doesn't get hurt if you cant make the large payment one month trying to pay down your debt quickly) I did a 3 year term to get my debt paid of quickly so the monthly payment is very high but it is worth it if you want to get out of debt! I agree with everyone's advice too about keeping your credit card accounts open but cutting up your credit cards and trying to change your spending habits. It is really hard once you get this loan because you still have the same payments each month and cash flow is still just as tight and now you have these open cards it is really tempting to use them. Just keep moving in the right direction and paying off debt the best you can. Good luck to everyone out there in this same battle! Our generation got started off on the wrong foot with all this student debt and it creates a mess for the rest of our finances right out of the gate.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

lj8576 — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 00:56:16 GMT

I’m not sure how much they approved you for but how was your interest rate?

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Willard Smith 5526 — Sat, 06 Apr 2019 17:15:31 GMT

Thanks all

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

konajode — Sun, 07 Apr 2019 04:00:21 GMT

Not great but lower than my cards 16%

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Cruzer — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 23:19:54 GMT

What loan company did you use? Sounds like a great idea for my situation.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

lj8576 — Tue, 09 Apr 2019 23:53:42 GMT

Most of my cards are around 14-16%. I have no store cards. I think I need to pay some down to improve my credit score so I can get a better rate

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

konajode — Wed, 10 Apr 2019 20:51:32 GMT

Best Egg

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Domdabomb — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 09:10:43 GMT

Hi, we just consolidated 20k of high interest credit card debt into a personal loan from Marcus Goldman Sachs. My credit score jumped 35 points and I now have one bill/month instead of 8. I'm so glad we did this you should think about it.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Sansher — Mon, 15 Apr 2019 00:05:08 GMT

My Bank had an interest rate of 10% I looked around and got a much lower rate from another company that wasnt related to theBank. I thought the bank did not have a vested interest in me being able to pay doen the credit card. Bottom line here are that entities other than your Bank might be the better way to go.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

yoyo — Tue, 16 Apr 2019 01:19:46 GMT

I did almost the same thing as darlingnikki121. Sofi loan works great. Interest rate is good. Your credit score will improve immediately because the installment loan shows better than revolving credit. And you can set automatic payments to one place and never have to think about it.

Just be careful with credit card spending. Once you transfer their debt to the loan, you'll have a lot of available credit. If you're tight month-to-month, it can be tempting to make credit card purchases. Cut up your cards and delete your saved info online. (Don't cancel the cards, because the available credit also improves your credit score). But make sure not to use those cards again. It can be very easy to get yourself in a much bigger hole.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Mophicat — Sun, 21 Apr 2019 16:23:16 GMT

Yes. But make sure you STOP using your credit cards or your situation may get worse than what they are now.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

lj8576 — Sun, 21 Apr 2019 16:27:47 GMT

I tried but Sofi said nope. My CC interest is between 15-18

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

Brujamexicana — Sun, 21 Apr 2019 20:20:42 GMT

Where were you able to get a loan at0% for 24 months?

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

MMS55 — Thu, 16 May 2019 23:02:32 GMT

Where did you get a loan with 0% interest for two years? I would love to consolidate my debt but don't understand how people get a loan if already in debt.

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

tbassman — Fri, 17 May 2019 00:35:46 GMT

Yes it is ok if you can get a better interest rate but it will be a hard inquiry on your credit report and cause your score to drop.

But it will also raise your score later as you pay it off .

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

tbassman — Fri, 17 May 2019 00:39:13 GMT

Never take loan out on your home and closing credit cards can lower your score .

Re: Has anyone ever consolidated credit cards into a personal loan?

tbassman — Fri, 17 May 2019 00:41:23 GMT

You cant get %0 financing on a personal loan .