Question by Stephie: My credit card companies refuse to raise my limit or lower my interest rates…loan options?
I have three credit cards with low limits (0-0 each) and the balances are pretty much at the max. I haven’t been late with any of them in over a year, and I make more than my minimum payments, but with the monthly fees and annual fees and interest, I can’t seem to get the balance down. I haven’t used the cards for any purchases in 6-9 months at all.

I called each CC company today to see about lowering the interest or raising the balance and they all refused. I’m now looking for other loan options to consolidate these. I filed a BK7 in 2007 and opened these cards to help improve my credit, and now my credit scores are 534, 591, 648. All I want to do is pay off these cards so I can put the money into my savings, but these companies are making it difficult, and between my own bills and my savings I can’t afford more than what I pay.

Anyone have any experience or ideas? I did a “bad credit credit card consolidation” google search and just got Pay Day loans – NO way. I can take out extra money from my student loan, but I don’t start until September, and I’m trying NOT to be repaying so much money per month when I’m going to school, too. I live in Las Vegas, NV, if that gives anyone any local company considerations.

These are my cards and rates as of now.

Capital One: 0 limit, 1 balance, 17% interest, no annual/monthly fee, /month payment
Orchard Bank: 0 limit, 1 balance, 20% interest, no annual/monthly fee, /month payment
First Premier: 0 limit, 0 balance, 20% interest, month/ annual free, /month payment
First Premier: 0 limit, 8 balance, 20% interest, month/ annual free, /month payment

I have a very tight budget already, and REALLY don’t want to dip into my savings. I just need to figure out how to get out of this debt (albiet small, but it’s still driving me NUTS) so I can start saving more money.
I’ve now realized that this was a REALLY bad question to post – I never thought I would get so many Nigerian scams from it…ugh!

Best answer:

Answer by Common Sense
Sorry, but there’s no way to “get out of it”.

What do you think? Answer below!

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Question by Sam D: My student loan interest rates are killing me! Are there any options to lower my interest rate?
After college I decided I wanted to have all my loans in my name only (ie. not tied to my parents anymore) so I took out two consolidation loans from Sallie Mae, one for my federal loans and one for my private.

Unfortunately, I did this at the exact wrong time and my federal loans are locked in at an interest rate of 6.65%! And without my parents’ credit history, the best interest rate I qualified for on the private consolidation loan was 9.75%!

Do I have any options for lowering the rate on either loan?

Best answer:

Answer by spalmer
You can ask Sallie Mae for a reduction in your interest rates, or you can try to consolidate with another company for a lower interest rate.

Know better? Leave your own answer in the comments!

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Question by golfingjake: Is it possible to postpone student loan consolidation to wait for lower interest rates rates?
I graduated 6 months ago with several federal student loans combining more than 40K. Is it better for me to consolidate now or stay put? Will the fed cutting lending rates (now 3%) affect the interest rates that loan consolidators offer? Will i be offered either variable or fixed rates if i consolidate?

Best answer:

Answer by greentadpole
That’s the 64 million dollar question. A consolidated loan pays off your existing student loans with variable interest rates and makes a new jumbo loan with a fixed rate.

Of course, the monthly payment for a consolidated loan will be lower, but you can also lower your current loan payments to cover interest for the first two or four years and still pay them off in 10 years instead of 30 with a consolidated.

Honestly, unless you are consolidating because you have multiple locations where you loans are serviced, I would hold off on consolidating until absolutely necessary.

The reason are deferments and forbearance. You only have 36 months of financial deferments available per loan. You only have 60 months of forbearance available on each loan. These delay payment if you ever needed some breathing room with payments.
So if you are unable to make payments because you can’t find a job or the pay is too low, you can defer payments (and have the government pay the accruing interest on the subsidized loans) until you are able.
Consolidating the loans, you would limit yourself to only 36 months of financial hardship deferment over the 30 year repayment terms, and most consolidated are structured for the government NOT to pay interest while the payments are deferred.

To make my point, unless you are consolidating for the mere convenience of having all your loans in one location for payment, hold off on it until you need it.

The interest rates for student loans are determined July 1 of ever year. If you keep an eye on the rates, you can put your application in to secure the rate for consolidation.

Add your own answer in the comments!