Mapleton

The student loan crisis was caused by bright eyed millennials who "followed their passion" in college instead of following the needs of the economy. There aren't many STEM majors complaining about student loan debt because these people are getting viable and well paying positions in their fields.

I did the math one time, I found I was paying like $700-800 per month in interest. I was wow, I could lease a $60k car (I wouldn't, just hypothetically) for that amount and I'm just paying it to some bank.

Here is what I owe: US Bank - $4300 Capital One - $5000 Banana Republic Visa - $4400 Discover - $3100 Amex - $300 Citi - $2000 Chase - $500 FNBO CC - $13000 FNBO Credit Line - $3800 I'll update this thread in a few months to let you know what or if they drop limits on any of these cards. I have late marks with all of them except the Citi and Capital One. All of them are maxed out (except Amex, that is a closed account I'm on a repayment plan with). I appreciate the replies.

I have a large (for me) amount of credit card debt and I am receiving a lump sum of money and I plan to pay off all of the credit card debt at once. My FICO is around 610 and I have about $38k in cc debt with about 95% utilization. I have no collections or any serious marks besides 5 or 6 30 day lates. I have been swimming in debt for the last 5 years and I was regularly late on payment for these. I don't have a good rapport with credit card companies right now. I will get just enough money to pay off everything and be debt free (except for my car, which is 70 percent paid off). My question: When I pay off this debt, will credit card companies become suspicious of my fortunate windfall and thus pull back my limits? Does anyone have any experience of being in a super tight spot and getting out of it literally overnight and how it effects your limits? Should I pay it off all at once? Would it help to pay off half this month, half next month? I want to keep my limits high (if not get them higher) to fortify my credit profile for business reasons. I was so broke and in so much debt for so long and I feel like the credit card companies aren't going to believe that I'm not a deadbeat anymore. I have a job that pays triple what I made when I was broke 5-10 years ago and things and looking up for me, I want to keep my credit profile looking good.

Thanks for your reply virtualtreasure. Do you think my bank will have better rates than Discover? I guess there is only one way to find out. I assumed the Discover deal was a decent deal, maybe I was wrong.

Some time ago I read about someone who proposed the idea that when you do a balance transfer or open a personal loan to consolidate debt, other lenders could see this on your credit profile and it could become a big negative in their eyes. I have an American Express account with a lot of points (100k+) and I am considering opening a Discover personal loan to consolidate some business related debt I've accumulated but I'm worried if I do so, Amex may see that on my profile that I"m moving debt around and it may raise a flag. I do not want to lose my Amex points. BTW, the debt I'm moving is not on my Amex account. I have an Amex Plat which I pay off monthly and have never had a problem paying it. My debt is from two other cards and I plan to transfer to the Discover personal loan in order to lower the interest I'm paying. Any advice? Am I worrying too much?

I normally do not defend companies like Walmart, but history has shown they have lowered prices on most consumer goods far below what any other business has, to the point of putting most others out of business. Volume = Low prices. At least this is true when it comes to retailers. If you want to talk about large banks, that's a different story. But I guess it varies on a case by case basis.

Newsreporters trying to be lawyers, economists, and consumer advocates is hilarious. I always laugh when I watch CNBC and a newscaster starts to try and debate one of their guests. What does someone with a journalism degree know about anything besides.....journalism?

There is a local drive through Mexican restaurant I frequent who requires all credit card transactions to be over $3.00. They're clearly a bit "credit card hostile." I can see them being one of the businesses that imposes a credit card surcharge. They charge 6.99 for their chicken fajita meal that I like to get. Do you think when this goes into effect, they are going to lower their fajita meal to $6.79? Very unlikely. Sure, a Walmart or other giant business will adjust prices based on small cost decreases to save consumers money, but the vast majority of the types of businesses that will impose this fee will simply just pocket the money. These are probably mostly locally owned gas stations and restaurants and maybe a few other oddball businesses.

Amex has a crush on Bob Wang.

You might start to see a lot of small gas stations and small restaurants implementing a fee (some already do despite it being against the merchant agreement), but overall no reasonable business is going to implement this. To make an extra 2% on some of their customers is not worth it. It makes a business look like they are trying to bilk their customers by tacking on fees and extra expenses. Some business owners are very two dimensional thinkers, but most will use common sense.

I know some people are put through the ringer when applying, but most people seem to get approved. When I applied about 3 years ago during the credit crisis, I was approved instantly.

BBB-? Holy crap! I'm transferring everything out now. Gonna park it all in Navy Fed and get it moved it over to Sallie Mae Bank for the higher interest rate. I opened FNBO and stashed some money there when they were paying 2.0% and every 4-6 months they have chopped. Now they are down to an uncompetitive 1.10%. Even though this thread is over a year old, I'll respond. From what I read, FNBO received some investment financing a little over a year ago by a large US bank, so I'm not worried about them. I do all my banking with them (I live in Omaha) and they are the dominant bank in Omaha. The founding family still owns the majority of the bank so it's not run by a bunch of "rent-a-CEOs" who have no interest in the company or it's long term future.

Raised unsecured credit limit from $2,500 to $5,000.

I was so excited when it came. Very cool magazine. It minds me a lot of the Robb Report and Lexus (I bought a used Lexus years ago and they sent me their magazine for a few years) magazine. Except a little less flagrant than the Robb Report and a little less cultural than Lexus magazine (Lexus magazine was still my favorite, too bad I don't get that anymore.) People say it's just a book of ads but the ads are some of the best reading. I'd say it's about 40% ads and 60% editorial. Very nice read anyway.