How to Get Through the Summer When Your Credit Card Is Maxed Out

Your credit card balance is already at 90 percent of your credit limit.  It is of little consolation to find out that millions of other credit card users are in a similar situation to yours.  You still have to worry about how you are going to get through the next three months, when you spend more money on air conditioning and, instead of your children going to public school for 40 hours per week, you must either pay for childcare or participate in an unpaid childcare exchange with friends or neighbors, so that, in the rare moments that you are not working, you must remain alert enough to be sure that the kids you are babysitting are not endangering themselves or others.  Summer in South Florida is no fun for adults; it is a sweltering fever dream of no money and no sleep.  The sounds of the video games your kids and the neighbor kids are playing on their iPads race through your mind as you drift in and out of sleep on the couch, while the kids’ Otter Pops drip brightly colored, sticky liquid on the carpet of your apartment, taking away your last hope that your landlord will refund your security deposit at the end of your lease.  To strategize about how to get through yet another financially stressful summer, contact a Plantation debt lawyer.

When Does It Make Sense to Ask for a Credit Limit Increase?

You know you’re rich when you just ask lenders for money and they give it to you.  Does that work for people who live paycheck to paycheck and use their credit cards for groceries, though?  After the number of lenders who have turned you down for car loans, and after seeing the fees that banks charge for personal loans, you might be afraid to ask for a credit limit increase, for fear that your request will only lead to disappointment.  A credit limit increase is not the same as a new loan, though.  Credit card companies are often willing to increase your credit limit if you have been making at least the minimum payment every month.  Getting a credit limit increase could mean that you owe more credit card debt at the end of the summer than you do now.  It could also increase your credit score, though, since it will lower your credit use ratio.

When Does It Make Sense to Consolidate Your Debt?

Likewise, debt consolidation is great if you can get a debt consolidation loan.  Even if the amount you can borrow is less than your total credit card balance; it will reduce your balance, thereby freeing up credit, and it will reduce the amount of interest you pay on the amount you consolidated.  If you don’t have any other installment loans, the debt consolidation loan can also boost your credit score by improving your credit mix.

Work With a Debt Lawyer About Getting Through the Summer

A South Florida debt lawyer can help you see the big picture about your credit card debt.  Contact Nowack & Olson, PLLC in Plantation, Florida to discuss your case.

Source:

cbsnews.com/miami/news/south-florida-financial-expert-offers-solutions-to-those-with-maxed-out-credit-cards/