Author Topic: Need help with some advice for my parents on CC debt  (Read 2300 times)

face-punched

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Need help with some advice for my parents on CC debt
« on: April 21, 2014, 11:27:34 AM »
Hello all,

My parents aren't exactly frugal people (though I constantly try to convert them), and this past weekend I was finally able to talk to them about it. They seem interested in shaping up, but not necessarily willing to become badass. (It pains me too, I know.) Anyway, they have 120,000 in two mortgages and 50,000 in credit card debt that they are trying to explore options on. They can't sell the houses as they have been up for sale for 4 years with no buyers but they did get a renter recently to provide some relief. They only make 60k gross, and I was wondering if there were any options that I could share with them other than the obvious stop spending and get to paying. They don't feel like they can see a light at the end of the tunnel for them to get excited about saving and feel like they are gonna work until they die. If more info is needed I am happy to provide as much as I know. (The credit card situation is awful I think more than 10k of it is at 19-20%.

They are in their early fifties.

When I say they seem interested I mean that they haven't gotten excited about it because I don't think they can visualize actually making changes. My wife and I are thinking about getting them counseling because they both push the blame of it on each other and don't really talk about it. They each individually feel like the other person won't go along with making real changes, but talking to them separately seem willing.
« Last Edit: April 21, 2014, 12:17:34 PM by face-punched »

Ayanka

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Re: Need help with some advice for my parents on CC debt
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2014, 11:45:17 AM »
How old are your parents, cause it might change the steps they need to take a little. What helps for some people is to make it visual. So I would plot an excel chart with how much they have to pay now, and how much they would have to pay when thing A (I assume this will be the high interest charts) is paid off and the minimum payment lowers. I would continue to work it out (the Dave Ramsey snow ball method seems a good system for your parents) and see if the seeing how much difference it could make, even if over time.

If your parents are in their late fifties or older a more aggressive approach might be necessary, but I ll refer to the more hardcore mustachians for that.

MissStache

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Re: Need help with some advice for my parents on CC debt
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2014, 11:45:23 AM »
Do they care about this?  Do they want to get rid of their debt and change their spending habits?  Because if they don't, there really isn't anything you can do to change their ways.   You say they "seem" interested, but that certainly doesn't sound like they are asking for help.