Please help!!!!! What can I do about this?

I am a student, and due to some bad decisions, my credit is poor. Well, when Visa one day sent me a prescreened credit offer in the mail, I jumped at the chance. I didn%26#039;t have cash, had a cell phone bill to pay, etc. Well now, I don%26#039;t know what to do. My balance is climbing but not because of me, because of the monthly maintenance fee, the finance charges, and other charges they%26#039;ve tacked onto my bill. I don%26#039;t know what to do. I%26#039;ve paid on time, but my minimum payment amount keeps rising, and it%26#039;s almost at $100 a month! Like I said, I am a student; I only work part time. I called the credit card company (who doesn%26#039;t even have a toll free number!), and I asked them if I closed the account but kept paying, would that stop the monthly charges, and the representative said no. Even if the account was closed the maintenance fee and finance charges would still be on the account until the balance was 0. I don%26#039;t know what to do. I pay, but don%26#039;t get ahead. What can I do?

Please help!!!!! What can I do about this?signature loan

Close accounts that have the highest interest rate, have one (maybe two credit cards period) and never pay a fee for a card. You already have to pay interest on the balance, you shouldn%26#039;t have to pay a monthly maintenance fee. See if you can transfer your Visa balance to a credit card through your bank or credit union. They are less likely to charge you a monthly maintenance fee. Good luck.

Please help!!!!! What can I do about this? loan

Check out one of those companies that get between you and the card issuers ... you%26#039;ve seen the commercials ... I seem to recall one named Debt Free or something similar.

Google or Yahoo search %26quot;Credit Repair%26quot;, %26quot;Debt Relief%26quot; ... they get your interest and payments reduced and stop the collection calls.

I hope this helps.|||First step is to cut up your credit cards. Not all but most. Leave one or two to use. Don%26#039;t make unnesscery spending on random junk you dont need. If any cards come in the mail dont use them!! Just think ** That could be beer money!!** Use your cell phone as little as you can, and try to find a plan that you dont have to pay much for. Thats about all i can thinl of! Hope U pay of ur debts!|||Call your folks or relatives, can they help?

Do you have an insurance policy that has some cash value? If you borrow from them the interest rate is usually 8%.

You didn%26#039;t say what the balance was, have you tried contacting your bank where your checking account is at? They maybe able to do a small balance signature loan at 10% or less, maybe your folks could co-sign if you can%26#039;t get it on your own.

Have you asked your employer? Some will provide small loans at no or little interest. And for goodness sake don%26#039;t go to a cash advance to get the money!

Cut up the credit card and STOP using it.|||Welcome to being an adult with responsibility. First, cut up the card. Live within your budget, which means, you need to learn how to cook, not eat out. Find entertainment that does not cost anything. basicly if you don%26#039;t have cash for it, you cannot afford it. If you don%26#039;t want to live within your budget or if you have that champagne taste on a beer budget, then the only thing else to do is to get a full time job and go part time to school. You owe the debt you need to pay it. But if all else fails there is always bankruptcy, but that will mess up your credit for 10 years, even if you miss payments that can mess up your credit for 7. Good luck.|||This exact thing happened to me as a student. This was eight years ago, so it is possible the rules have changed, but this is what I did: I called the credit card company and told them I was having a hard time making the monthly payments, but really wanted to pay off my balance. They sent me to another person who asked me questions like how much money do you make every month, how much is your rent, etc. They set up a payment plan for me with reduced payments and a reduced interest rate. I was not allowed to use the card while I was on the payment plan. I think the key to getting help from the them was stressing my commitment to paying off my balance, but that,at the time, I couldn%26#039;t make the minimum monthly payments.

I would highly suggest you DO NOT close your account. This can put a serious dent in your credit rating because it will erase your credit history on that card from your credit reports. And in a few years you may want to buy a car, rent an apartment or buy a house and that credit history will be very important. If you haven%26#039;t been delinquent on payments, keep it open, but get the balance low or zero. There are a lot of factors that go into deciding to close an account. If you have been late on a lot of payments, you will want to research the decision to close the account further.

The first person you speak to might not be helpful. If this happens, ask them to transfer you to someone who can change interest rates and increase credit limits, those people have more power to make changes. I hope this helps. And also, I know this feels completely overwhelming, but with a little discipline you will get out of it.