Credit card payment

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raptor3624

raptor3624

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I think I am in a soup with my credit card bill but not sure. I have a citibank credit card. I think the max limit is 1lakh. I ensured the card didn't have any annual fees when i first got it 8 years ago. The good thing I did and have been doing is that I only 1 have credit card and limit my prchase with it. But the bad thing is that I pay only the minimum due amount every month. my debt has been ranging from 60k to 70k. Once I got it down to 20k(when I was not married) but thats it. Presently it's 90k.

I've been readiong these horror stories about interested rates ruiining people. I just dont understand it. Can someone explain me in layman terms?Am I screwed?
 
raptor3624 said:
I think I am in a soup with my credit card bill but not sure. I have a citibank credit card. I think the max limit is 1lakh. I ensured the card didn't have any annual fees when i first got it 8 years ago. The good thing I did and have been doing is that I only 1 have credit card and limit my prchase with it. But the bad thing is that I pay only the minimum due amount every month. my debt has been ranging from 60k to 70k. Once I got it down to 20k(when I was not married) but thats it. Presently it's 90k.

I've been readiong these horror stories about interested rates ruiining people. I just dont understand it. Can someone explain me in layman terms?Am I screwed?
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How much interest are you being charged every month? It should appear in your credit card statement.
 
You might want to check Penalties / Charges as well !
They charge Tax on the same so its double whammy.
 
Be smart and do your self a favor. FIRST settle the debt in next 2-3 months and avoid any kind of shopping on the card not even groceries for these 2-3 months.
Then start fresh and use your card wisely. And then you can sit to calculate if they overcharged you or not and stuff.
Not only at you but I am amazed how people can so easily keep on spending on credit when their debt is actually rising every month. And 3.45annualy is INSANE.
Currently if you take a advance salary from your company or take a personal loan of say 1L to pay this debt it will be cheaper than your CC debt interest.
Just clear it off.....
Oh yes to answer your last line. Dude you are deeply screwed. Banks live on customers like you.

From 2006 I have never paid a single rupee as interest/charges to credit cards. Nor missed any due date nor paid the min amount and carried fwd the remaining amount on interest.
Always have the upper hand when it comes to banks.
 
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i am sure you have no clue how much is being charged by you bank as interest.

Just to give you an example -
  • Suppose you have an outstanding amount of 99,000/-
  • Minimum payble is 1000 bucks to avoid penalty - Say you pay 98,000 as you bill and you are left with only 1k of outstanding amount for which you need to pay interest.
Going by the above, the interest charged in the next month should be 30 bucks only.

Now the eye opener -
you will be surprised to see an interest of 1700 or odd interest in ur bill. as interest in not charged on the outstainding amount only.

So, i advise - check ur bills very very properly - its says 3.45 interest but ITS NOT (credit card companies have too many grey rules)
 
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Your running in to a bad credit, your in the soup; get personal loan or beg/ borrow and close it off entirely and let i cool off, hold on from impulse purchases!
There is a higher chance than even if you apply for a loan it being rejected with such a bad due !
You need to go back and analyse each of your earlier statements, to understand if anything is wrong!
 
Why were you only paying the min due amount?
Was that because you didn't know that you will be charged interest or because you actually didn't have any money to pay off the actual amount.
 
A bit of both actually. Call it living in denial. I knew I would be charged interest but didn't know it was a lot when you reach the end fo the road.
2 years ago I got the debt to an all time low of 12k from 70k. But wedding expenses rose ot to 80k and from them on, I paid the min amount only since I needed the rest fo the money for regular use.[DOUBLEPOST=1396947829][/DOUBLEPOST]I think I'll withdraw my PF and pay this bill.[DOUBLEPOST=1396947959][/DOUBLEPOST]Puting my Nook Color for sale too.
 
You are in big trouble man.I think you don't know how to use credit cards properly. You should have applied for a personal loan for you marriage if you need money. Stop using credit card immediately until you repay you debt entirely otherwise it would be increase to such an extent that you wont be able to pay it in any way and then recovery agents would start to harsh you and your family.
 
Best get a loan or borrow from friend and pay all due... You will only avoid penalty by only paying minimum due...
 
It will also reflect negatively if apply for any loan in your future.. Your cibil score have impact due to this.
 
abracadabra said:
Your running in to a bad credit, your in the soup; get personal loan or beg/ borrow and close it off entirely and let i cool off, hold on from impulse purchases!
There is a higher chance than even if you apply for a loan it being rejected with such a bad due !
You need to go back and analyse each of your earlier statements, to understand if anything is wrong!
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On the contrary, I guess he must be getting lots of calls from credit card companies saying they will pay off his dues of old card and give him new card. Such companies give short term loan of up to a lac at 22% pa which is less than what he's paying now. Civil score is just for companies looking for new bakras who cannot pay dues properly.
 
Use a credit card only when you can pay back the entire amount at the end of the month. If not, do not use them. If you do part payment or don't have the money to fund a full payment, don't buy or if it is absolutely necessary take a personal loan instead.
 
Even converting the amount into EMI is a lot better. I have done that in the past and found the interest to be very less and normally no processing fee either.
When I changed from Macbook Air to Lenovo, I realized I didn't have enough to pay off for the Lenovo and the MBA was being difficult to sell, so I converted that transaction to a 12 month EMI and ended up paying just 3k more for the Lenovo.
 
Dear Lord. Why the **** do u think it was a ok thing to do?

You are not screwed. but ****ed. Please pay it off immediately. I use my CC like debit card only. I know it sounds weird, but that's how i am. I will pay it off next month. No matter what. :(.
If the amount is too much, just turn to EMI. That's my CC card usage. EMI. Nothing else.

Please arrange some money as soon as you can and finish it off. Take a essential expense of next 2 months or so. so that you know what needs to be accounted and then just pay it off.
Even if you take personal loan, that will end up being cheaper!!!. Do not take cash or min payment routes from CC. thats where they make money. Honest.

I do vote for that PF route though, you are young and God willing you wont need that PF for some more years. You can make more money later on. Just do it fast.
And even if you are taking personal loan, dont take it for more than 1 year. you paid enough interest unnecessarily.
 
raptor3624 said:
A bit of both actually. Call it living in denial. I knew I would be charged interest but didn't know it was a lot when you reach the end fo the road.
2 years ago I got the debt to an all time low of 12k from 70k. But wedding expenses rose ot to 80k and from them on, I paid the min amount only since I needed the rest fo the money for regular use.I think I'll withdraw my PF and pay this bill.Puting my Nook Color for sale too.
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Anyways.... Its not too bad either. The good thing is that you have decided to do something about it.
Like I said check if you can get a personal loan else dont just wait for it. Start paying whatever you can from your current savings.
Say after all your expenditure you save 30k a month then pay 30k for this month and additionally borrow 60k from 2-3 friends(eg 20k from each from 3friends) saying that you will need it for 2-3 months. This way you dont pay interest. None of your friend is burdened and your debt is settled(kinda ). Debt with friends is better than debt with bank.
BUT be prompt and honest and pay back your friends on time. The moment your salary is deposited first settle their share for that month.

Dont panic and go for selling things. Only control your desire and dont make any purchases for now.
And MOST important of all. Learn a lesson from this. Luckily a Lakh is not a big amount today but such habits can make people go into debts of many lakhs and put people into depression and social disgust.
And looks like you are newly married so talk with your wife that you are planning to zero the debt. She should understand this and support you fully. Like I said Its not too bad yet. You have woken your self on time. All d best. Take a step.

P.S: Borrow from friends. Dont go for your PF money. Keep that the last option. Last to last....
 
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And yes. they will give this interest numbers like 3 or 4 or 5. but you end up paying more. I am sorry, but i am not smart enough to understand that rules. that's why i dont go into any of that. :(

And yea, what the above post said. Only 90k. its ok, just finish it off. and no it doesnt mean you can retain this 90k or do this again. Fool you once, shame on them. Fool you twice, shame on you.
 
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