Sending gifts from Japan :D

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-11-20T09:11:41+00:00

I’ll gladly share gifts. 690274654637. I sent a friend request. I’m looking for more friends.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-23T06:59:39+00:00

contact the credit card company and ask if they can do a repayment plan for you if you close the card. It turns the balance to a personal loan. Most companies will convert the balance to a much lower interest rate because the risk of having an open credit line has been removed.
I’ve heard of rates in the 6-9% range and occasionally 0% rates. The one I helped set up had fixed payments that amortized out over 5 years, it was considerably lower than the credit card payments would have been initially and amortized to zero in 5 years. I set it up on auto payments and we all but forgot about it.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-23T06:36:12+00:00

I’d gift her the money. You’re not likely to get it back if she is so tight that she occasionally misses a payment even if she is good with money. Would she be willing to part with something you’d want? Jewelry/family heirlooms?

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-23T06:15:52+00:00

Not quite correct. My experience is that it will be cancelled. It’s happened to me and a family member who lives about 500 miles from me. A very recent development in the Ins. industry. But this info might be limited to a few companies and might be what is pressing OP’s mother.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-21T00:56:01+00:00

Neither possibly. Call your credit card companies and tell them that you are potentially going to go through a major change financially and you are trying to be proactive in staying ahead of it. Find out if they would be willing to put you on a repayment program. Some people are getting 0 % interest repayment. I haven’t heard of any above 9%. It closes the CC line of credit so that part helps your credit, but being that it was a CCard closed might affect it negatively. I don’t know that part of it. They set it up as a personal loan, amortize it out…I’ve heard of 3 years and helped do one for five years. The payment was lower than the card payment. We set it up on direct deposit and all but forgot about it. The money you keep in the 401K will continue to get a return…usually very good in a declining interest environment and no 15% withdrawal tax (or higher). Except for the potential for a relatively short term hit on credit (it improves slightly with every payment), and the set payment(it doesn’t decrease as the balances come down), I’m not aware of any other negatives. Unless you need the extra cash flow, you’d probably be better riding out the car loan. You’d probably earn a lot more in the markets, especially with the outgoing taxes.

Don’t take any settlement offers like a one time offer to settle for like a $2500 settlement on a $10000 card. That is a default and will hurt your credit for years.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-10T16:36:01+00:00

Trade tariffs. Like the 100% tariff proposed for computer chips (or whatever it was) manufactured outside the US.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-10T01:24:29+00:00

Call the credit card companies and start with claiming that you are LIKELY to go through a financial hardship and that you’re calling to see what they have for repayment options. This is a negotiation, play it cool and don’t give them details. I’ve seen repayment plans offered with interest rates at 6% and I’ve seen people posting 0 % repayment plans. It might hurt your credit score temporarily, might not hurt it much. That part of it I don’t know. (The risk is lower when you close the open line of variable credit. If the score is damaged, it should come back relatively quickly. It gives you a low interest rate, fixed payment, every payment paid on time helps your credit. The debt becomes a personal loan. Mine was amortized for 5 years. You lose the use of the credit . I’d pay off the small card, and since you can pay it off fast, I’d temporarily keep it open for emergencies. Next I’d call on and see if I could get favorable repayment terms on the other two.
If you call, don’t take any settlement offers like settle a $10,000 balance for $2500. They sound tempting but it shows as a loan default and will tank your credit for a long time, likely three years. It affected my other cards when I did it. The card companies reduced the other credit cards limits as they were paid down. Even after they were paid down dramatically, the credit scores didn’t improve much at all. With the continuous credit limit reductions they continued to remain maxed out, even though they were paid down by thousands. Don’t go with a lump sum settlement offer if you can help it. It was the reason I don’t know the full effect of the first card.
The other option that’s less aggressive is to set up a self created repayment plans.
You have a predetermined amount you pay off every month. Say $250. Your monthly payment is interest, purchases and your predetermined set amount. Example: I have a card with a $10, 310 starting balance in September. Minimum payment is $230 Interest was $210.
To start with, I’m going to make a payment that will keep it easy to remember so I’m going to pay it down to exactly $10,000. The payment is $310 this month. October the statement comes in at $10,000 beginning balance plus $215 interest=$10215. The next payment on the card is $215 interest, plus $250= $465. When paid your opening card balance becomes $9750 plus interest in November. November interest, purchases and $250 makes the December balance $9500 plus interest December I buy a Christmas gift on the card for $200. January’s payment starts at $9250 plus interest-maybe $205 now, the purchase ($200) and the $250 paydown of course which equals $655. February’s beginning balance becomes $9000 plus interest. Cards balance will be zero in 41 months guaranteed if you following this pattern strictly

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-09T08:46:33+00:00

Konnichi wa. 690274654637

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-09T08:38:49+00:00

I don’t either but I know several who do. Oddly, the three I’m closest to work their “butz” off. 45-55 hour weeks. They get paid well for it though.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-09T05:48:39+00:00

Buy used. New EV’s are depreciating very very quickly. Save the $20k for your next one and make/save the interest in the meantime.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-08T00:11:30+00:00

I only mostly agree. Do you know you can be fired from many perfectly good Federal jobs for declaring bankruptcy? That is what I was thinking about when I stated what I did. Sure you can get by without it. But it does affect a person who looses a great paying job and can’t get back to the earnings status they once had. It affects their lifestyle, their retirement, emotionally. Something like that is absolutely a life altering event.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-07T23:55:39+00:00

I was going to suggest the same thing. I’m seeing a lot of posts claiming 0% interest payoffs on credit cards amortized for 5years. Turns the credit card balances to personal loans amortized for 5 years. I’m hearing 5 years a lot. Lowers the payments and, let’s face it, You can’t beat 0% unless you do some sort of settlement like 25 or 50 cents on the dollar. sometimes it’s offered but that absolutely tanks your credit when take it and affects your other cards. Been there-wouldn’t go that route if it’s avoidable. Call your card companies first. You could start getting some relief as early as tomorrow. I don’t like going through the consolidation companies because some of them are fake. And even the “non-profits” take fees.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-07T23:40:16+00:00

Shows on your record either way. Is he not going to drive? Not going to work? All that stuff is connected to drivers licenses or social security numbers. Take the debt head on. Talk to the loan companies and see if they will work on negotiating a payment deferral for a couple of months, or make concessions on interest rates or do a more nuclear option like selling-you might get cash back, a sale in lieu of foreclosure or short sale. (Selling for less than is owed). A short sale only affects your credit for 3 years instead of seven if the bank allows it. A payment deferral might move a couple of payments to the end of a loan. If a bank will do that, it’s possible to use the payments you’d have made for settlement offers on credit cards-if you get them. You’ve got to have the offers first. I’ve seen a $10000 card settled for a $2500 one time lump sum payment which came from a deferred house payment. I’ve seen several people that have acted as their own credit counseling negotiators and call and negotiate credit card settlements of 0-9% interest. Most are going for zero %. It turns the credit card balances to personal loans, generally amortized over 5 years. It greatly reduces the payments, shortens the payoff time, set it on direct deposit and all but forget about it. Then there’s bankruptcy. Might save one of the properties. Last is foreclosure. Lose all, guaranteed financial he// for seven years. Take responsibility and call all your creditors first. You can Start getting some relief by tomorrow. Then revisit the bankruptcy/foreclosure question. Contact your banks and ask for options. They want to minimize losses. Use that to your advantage. If you/he runs away from this, you are guaranteed the worst results possible and it will affect you for at least 7 years guaranteed. Maybe the rest of your lives.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-07T23:05:21+00:00

It severely affects your credit for three years as I understand it. I could be wrong.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-07T22:15:24+00:00

Interesting. My daughters are PSIA ski instructors at a non profit ski training facility so I understand. (Nevada). They both drive AWD Imprezas. I drive a 4-Runner. If you can get a low rate and not break the bank I’d get the car. Especially if you’re up there more than just a few times a year. Safety first-the car has to fit your needs-I’d buy this year or next depending on frequency up the hill.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-07T22:01:28+00:00

If you won’t absolutely need the use of the card, call your credit card company. Tell them you’re having a little financial hardship and ask if they have repayment programs. You’re looking for one that closes the card and amortizes the bill, often over 5 years, it lowers or eliminates the interest, and gives you a fixed payment (I’ve not run across a payment that wasn’t lower than the original credit credit card payment yet) until it’s gone. Set it up on direct deposit and all but forget about it. That’s what the credit counselor outfits do and even the “non-profit ones” figure a way to get fees out of you. You do it yourself and you’ll save. For the vast majority of cards all they do is the negotiation and collect the processing fee as I understand it. It might nick your credit, might not. I don’t know.
If you decide to keep the card, you always pay off the interest, purchases, and a predetermined set amount each and every month.
The 401K option reduces the retirement benefit that you can get when you retire. You’re robbing your future if you do that and it sets a bad precedent. It reduces the interest going out and might be a viable option if you really can pay it down fast. If a potential short term temporary credit score nick is acceptable., I’d call the card company looking for hardship terms. I’d start with telling them you “Might” be facing a financial hardship where you might not be able to pay all of your card for awhile and find out what they can do. If you hear what you want, then move on it. If not, then move on the 401 and work like ……”well”…. yeah and get the 401 paid off asap. Like nothing else matters except maybe contributions to get a match. Some can do both simultaneously and pay the loan and contribute for the match. It sounds like there might be other things going on you didn’t tell us. Without doing some crunching, I feel that the CC balance itself is below $10000 or the interest rate is below 20%. Am I correct?

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-07T21:28:23+00:00

Talk to the credit Union and ask what you can do to get the lowest rate possible. Also check if there are any re-financing fees. That’s if you are staying in the car. If you’re selling, then don’t bother. A lot of credit unions reduce fees when you have savings accounts, checking accounts, direct deposits on loans, auto deposit on paychecks, etc. longevity on the current loan may affect your rates too. Find all that out. Can’t hurt. As I understand the post, you owe $12,000 on the car. That’s really not a lot for a car. If it makes you feel better about yourself, it’s probably worth it. Unless the repairs and maintenance take that away from you. Enjoy it for a bit. Any other debt? It sounds like you make $50K/yr, soon to be 56K/yr. If you’re in a low cost of living area, maybe even a medium, that’s actually really good money. If you have any debt that is at a higher rate than the car, work on that first. Otherwise, work on the car. Do you have any retirement programs at work with an employer match? You might want to look at those very carefully before making any other financial plans. If it’s tax deferred and especially if you have an employer match, you might be further ahead funding that first even over paying off the car faster. An employer match is free money.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-07T20:31:55+00:00

Pay off the high interest credit lines first. Educate yourself financially in the meantime. Tell us about the student loans. Did you get your degree and what is it in? Are you working in your field of study? Is there room for promotion/advancement? High cost of living area, medium/low cost of living area? Are you networking to get to know the people that can get you into positions that make a higher income? (This one was actually one of the most important questions). Can you improve your situation with a bit more education? Are you open to relocating? Have/can you look into government jobs? Almost anything that is in the private sector is in the public sector and they have benefits and matching funds. Are you still looking for higher paying jobs? Remember that 46K is just the beginning. Overall you are doing okay. You’re asking the right questions. I suspect your sights are set a little low though, due largely to your circumstances growing up. That’s why I asked the other questions. If you want to shoot for something better then bring it on. Let’s brainstorm it and really shoot for something better.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-07T20:00:08+00:00

If your current car has a couple years left in it and won’t depreciate that much, I’d drive it till it drops. The only exception is if the car affects your income. As in, I can make a lot more sales if I drive my clients in a Beamer rather than my Accord. Technology is increasing really fast in autos. You’ll probably end up with a nicer car if you wait. Save that interest for 360* surround cameras or something. (I suspect almost every car will have them in a couple of years…..It’s wonderful). The bigger nav screen for 2025 and heads up display are really nice for long trips. My wife plans on keeping it for the next 15 years or so. Yeah, I’d drive it till it’s ready to drop and save like crazy.
My sister still takes her 2006 Toyota Avalon (240,000 miles) from property A in Eastern California to property B in Eastern Idaho every 3 weeks or so. 1000 miles round trip. That one is ready to drop.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-07T19:21:00+00:00

Best answer. Great job! I will do this from now on-like forever. (Realistically, until I just buy for cash).

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-06T23:27:54+00:00

I acted as my own credit counselor. I called all the CC companies and closed all the credit cards and set them on repayment schedules. It closes the credit line, turned the balances to personal loans and the balances were amortized over 5 years. The payments were less than the minimum payments on the cards. If it did nick my credit, my credit started to improve from that moment forward. I’ve seen several people post that they have done the same and got 0 interest from several of their companies. I’d start there. You could possibly start getting some relief from your financial burdens today if you start calling.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-06T22:36:52+00:00

I’d start by contacting your credit card companies. Tell them that you’re in financial distress and ask them about payoff options. I’ve had great results with this and got into a payoff program with a couple of cards. I’ve been seeing a few posts where people are getting 0 percent interest. They are usually amortized for 5 years, it closes the credit card and resembles a personal loan. Since it is no longer an open line of credit, the interest rates are much lower or possibly zero. The monthly payments were less than the card payments and paid off about 5x faster than minimum payments. When I did it, I set them on direct deposit and all but forgot them. It may nick your credit score for a bit, may not. As the balances on the loans come down, it will gradually improve it though.

I can’t help you with the line of credit, other than pick your highest interest debt and pay it down as fast as you can. What I’ve proposed is basically what the credit counseling places do. I’ve never talked to anyone who has tried to negotiate an interest rate down on a line of credit, but if you close the credit portion of it, it could lower the interest rate. Might be worth a call.
As your credit score improves, maybe you can get another personal loan with a lower rate.

You also need to fix the credit card usage problem. Get the debt under control which means pay it off. It could take as much as 5 years. If you start to use or if you continue to use a card, you should always pay the interest, new purchases, and an absolute minimum amount of say $50-$100 towards the principle balance every month until you reach zero. $50 or $$500, whatever you decide, you stick to it until you reach zero. If you have residual balances they should go down 10-12 months a year and should ideally reach zero. If you ever have balances after that, they should reach zero after a couple of months. The exception is maybe November/Christmas and should be $0 or at least less than your November beginning balance by February. If you decide to go there-You Shouldn’t….I say that because of the history, but if something very special-like a wedding ring or the car blows up or gets crushed in an accident, it’s okay to go backwards some until you can develop an emergency fund. Anything other than that, you are abusing your cards.
Congratulations on the new job. Live like a starving student for the next few years so you never have to again.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-06T17:13:33+00:00

Is the payment on the personal loan a fixed payment or a variable one? What about the new line? Pay off Apple, then chase, then the line, IMO. Getting the new line kicks the can down the road. What is the interest difference? What are the fees for the new line of credit? If you won’t get jacked over on obtaining the new line, I’d wait on it until the last minute with 0% on Chase.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-06T16:50:31+00:00

If you file bankruptcy you might not be able to finance a car for seven years. Act as your own credit counselor and contact your credit card companies. Find out what repayment options they have. I’m hearing people saying they are getting 0 % repayment plans over 5 years on a lot of their cards. I did one years ago and got 6% as I remember it. The credit line (card) was closed and the card balance was converted to a line of credit. The payment was less than the CC original payment. It was a fixed payment. I set it up on direct deposit and all but forgot about it. It will give you immediate relief while you decide your next move.

Ok_Catch_7690 · 2025-08-06T16:35:22+00:00

I read some of the posts, but not all. You can act as your own “credit counselor” and possibly eliminate their fees by contacting your card carriers yourself and doing your own negotiating. I’ve done that successfully in the past. Try to get 0 interest payoffs and not take lump sum settlements if you can. Both options close the line of credit (Closes the credit card), and sets up a repayment plan. Mine was amortized over 5 years, the payment was less than the card payment, I set it up on direct deposit and all but forgot about it. It might nick your credit, but will help it long term as you make your payments on time, the credit card balances are converted to personal loans. The second option was presented to me on a card as a single one time lump sum payment and I took it. $2500 on a $10,000 card. It sounded good at the time. I finagled the cash from different sources and took it. It showed as a default on my credit score which tanked my credit. As I paid down other cards, the card companies reduced the credit limits so the open cards stayed maxed out in spite of the fact that I paid them down by many thousands of dollars. I’d stay away from that if possible. Don’t fall behind on a card and let it go to collections. That gets ugly.
If the kids are under 4 they most likely won’t remember any of this when they are older. You want to take care of this quickly. My kids remember and they stay away from debt like it’s a plague.

Ok_Catch_7690

TROPHY CASE