Michelle Singletary:
Yes, I know that people don’t want to hear that. And, obviously, they’re struggling.
But if you can, and you have got a lot of debt on your card, you must put it away. That means going back to your budget, cutting everything you possibly can. It may mean changing your — where you live, your housing. Perhaps you can move in with someone or someone can move within with you, because that’s the biggest impact to people’s budget, is their housing.
But the one thing I want you to do is trying not to go to payday lenders. Don’t try to add on to debt in an emergency-type situation, because, oftentimes, that ends up increasing how much you owe. And if, for example — with payday loans, you get one, then your next payday comes in, you have got to pay that loan off, and you are already in the hole.
So, again, contact your lenders. You might look into, if your credit is still good, you can see if there is any zero percent offers out there that you qualify for. Transfer the debt to that, and then take that time to pay it off. And make sure that you can pay it off, though, in that introductory period, which can be anywhere from 15 months — 12 months, 15 months or 18 months in some cases, if you have got really good credit.
Source link
