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Financial Discussion With yall

62strat62strat Posts: 638
edited February 2006 in Musicians and Gearheads
I just did a balance transfer on my credit card to a 0% rate card for 1 year. I have 1,300$ to pay off. Shall I...

a) Put most of my Tax refunds and pay it off right away and move on
b) pust some
c) put all
d) put none and just make the payments

What is the intelligent thing to do financially. get debt free? just pay it off?

Thanks for your time, sweethearts.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    send half your tax refund to the debt. invest the rest.

    keep a small portion for coke and hookers.
  • 62strat62strat Posts: 638
    interesting.

    Ok ill just lay it out there. I haev about 1400 in tax refund. about the same in credit card debt. 0% for a year to pay it off on this transfer.

    I feel i should just put it all towards the card and be done with it, would cut my monthly bills by alot.

    Also, i need to still start a goddamn saving account. Pathetic i know.
  • exhaustedexhausted Posts: 6,638
    well, then just keep a small portion for something fun and dump the rest on to the card.
  • All Those YesterdaysAll Those Yesterdays Posts: 2,723
    Never can control what will happen in the future. I'd pay the dang thing off. One less thing to worry about
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  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    If you pay it off keep doing so every month you possibly can.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • brain of cbrain of c Posts: 5,213
    take it off.

    take it all off!!
    d'oh!!!!!!

    http://www.myspace.com/brain_of_c
  • DriftingByTheStormDriftingByTheStorm Posts: 8,684
    62strat wrote:
    interesting.

    Ok ill just lay it out there. I haev about 1400 in tax refund. about the same in credit card debt. 0% for a year to pay it off on this transfer.

    I feel i should just put it all towards the card and be done with it, would cut my monthly bills by alot.

    Also, i need to still start a goddamn saving account. Pathetic i know.

    the actual fiscaly honest response would be that it is financialy IRRESPONSIBLE to pay off money at 0% if you have ANY other debt positions.

    car loan, mortgage, anything?

    if you do, your tax refund is better served (saving you more money) paying down any other debt ...

    if you really are in the clear,
    i would still consider spending most of it elsewhere ...

    you can always transfer a 0% balance to another zero % balance, i have done so repeatedly.

    My friend's roomate is nearly 50 and carried a $25,000 credit debt at 0% for FIFTEEN YEARS ... now, granted his credit score was shot (which you will have to account for), but all he paid was minimum payments and transfer fees (some cards have NO FEES if you read all your offers) ...

    just make sure you pay on time or your rate goes up ... and they won't have much sympathy for trying to save your 0% rate.

    :D

    just a thought.
    i've been trying to pay off a few grand on cards for about 2 years ... everytime i get it down, i splurge a grand or two somewhere. but i try to keep one low rate card that i use only for purchases, and try and keep paid down low, and another card that carries a high debt load, but is at a 0% rate ... when the offer is ending i find a new card and transfer ...

    it's a fun game ... just make sure you beat the card company and not the other way around.

    it's amazing how many companies want to pay your interest for you, and how many more companies start sending you offers once you start carying a lot of 0% debt.

    what is even more scary is how many offers you will get from the SAME company you are carying 0% debt with.

    Citibank wants to give me like 15 cards ... sometimes i get 2 offers from them on the same day, with DIFFERENT rates for the same card ...

    sorry,
    i just find credit cards fascinating ...

    :D
    If I was to smile and I held out my hand
    If I opened it now would you not understand?
  • enharmonicenharmonic Posts: 1,917
    Well, since the card isn't costing you anything for a year, if you pay it off, you could actually be losing money. That money could be in the bank earning at least 2% for you. You could find a 12 month CD that will pay 5% if you look hard enough.

    Pay the card off month to month since they're charging you no interest. If in a year you find that you have not paid off your card, cash in that CDand pay down what's left on the balance. At 5%, 1400 would earn you about $70 just for sitting there. ;)
    new music: http://www.myspace.com/blackbirdsymphonique

    old music: http://www.myspace.com/slowloader
  • Pacomc79Pacomc79 Posts: 9,404
    enharmonic wrote:
    Well, since the card isn't costing you anything for a year, if you pay it off, you could actually be losing money. That money could be in the bank earning at least 2% for you. You could find a 12 month CD that will pay 5% if you look hard enough.

    Pay the card off month to month since they're charging you no interest. If in a year you find that you have not paid off your card, cash in that CDand pay down what's left on the balance. At 5%, 1400 would earn you about $70 just for sitting there. ;)



    Very true, there are also high yield savings accounts like Immigrant Direct that pay about 4.25% and link to your checking account. 70 bucks is a lot of guitar strings, for doing very little.
    My Girlfriend said to me..."How many guitars do you need?" and I replied...."How many pairs of shoes do you need?" She got really quiet.
  • 62strat62strat Posts: 638
    all good ideas. Question though...

    or rather some thoughts....

    if im going to end up just cashing out my investment to pay it off...then whats the point? im still spending that money? Of course thats only if i dont pay it off with the 108/month.

    Second, i know i should be looking long term. But for those of us that make under 40,000 and are in our mid 20's....not neccesarily living paycheck to paycheck, but will if we are not careful..108/month on credit card bills alone is quite a bit...the 1400 in tax refund is basically free money. So ridding of the credit card payment leaves me with an "Extra" (notice its in quotes cause its not really extra) 108/month.

    I also pay school loans, car paymentand fitness club, rent/utes etc...

    it would be nice to just pay off all the debt and be gone with it, be able to invest next year when i have less debt...hopefully. Of course, in all honesty i dont think ill ever not have credit card debt.
  • moster78moster78 Posts: 1,591
    I'd just kill it and be done with it. One less thing to worry about. Any time I get a raise or a bonus or a tax refund (not lately, unfortunately) it always goes to paying off something. I used the bulk of my Holiday bonus to pay off my Strat and amp. Yeah, I had no payments and no interest for 15 months or something like that, but I'd rather just have it paid for and be mine all mine.
  • Milhouse VanHoutenMilhouse VanHouten Posts: 755
    62strat wrote:
    Also, i need to still start a goddamn saving account. Pathetic i know.

    Unless you have some other immediate expenses that you have to pay with your refund, my advice would be to pay that sumbitch off completely as soon as possible. There's no sense in starting a savings account until after you're free of the credit card debt. With the credit card debt off your back, you'll have lots of options when it comes to saving/investing.
    "Of course it hurts. You're getting fucked by an elephant."
  • enharmonicenharmonic Posts: 1,917
    In light of the additional info, I'd apply the return toward the bill with the highest interest rate.
    new music: http://www.myspace.com/blackbirdsymphonique

    old music: http://www.myspace.com/slowloader
  • DriftingByTheStormDriftingByTheStorm Posts: 8,684
    yeah.
    once again man,

    basic financial management tells you that to pay off that credit debt is a BAD choice.

    If you want to pay off something, put the entire 1400 towards the STUDENT LOAN ... assuming the loan is a ANY RATE OTHER THAN 0% , that should be where you put the tax refund.

    After that, continue making the minimum payment on the card, and pay down as much of the student load as possible as well, until the 0% offer ends.

    paying downt he student loan early actually saves you a BUNCH more money ... paying off installment debt early is a great idea ... paying off 0% debt early is just foolish if you have other debt. heck, like pac and enharmonic said, it's foolish even if you DONT have other debt.

    :D
    If I was to smile and I held out my hand
    If I opened it now would you not understand?
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