164
votes
Accepted
Can I become debt free or should I file for bankruptcy? How do I manage my debt and finances?
Can I be debt free or should I file bankruptcy
There's no reason to file bankruptcy with $64k in debt and a $80K net salary. You can get out of debt in 1-2 years if you're willing to sacrifice. The ...
- 142k
122
votes
Can I become debt free or should I file for bankruptcy? How do I manage my debt and finances?
You need to change the way you think. First, understand compounding. Not just intellectually, but viscerally. You need to develop an aversion to spending borrowed money.
A debt with 22% APR ...
- 6,788
77
votes
3% personal loan online. Is this a scam?
It doesn't matter if the terms are a "fair deal" or are "too good to be true" — either way, it's definitely a scam. They are "phishing" for your personal information, including your banking ...
- 734
63
votes
How much interest should I pay on a loan from a friend?
If you didn't expressly discuss terms I would recommend a gift in lieu of interest. Lending between friends can be complicated and change relationships unexpectedly.
Some people are offended by the ...
- 1,086
52
votes
Can I become debt free or should I file for bankruptcy? How do I manage my debt and finances?
My income is 78K to 80K after taxes and insurance.
I pay $1,500 for rent+utilities, $150 for phone bill, $450 for auto loan, $300 for auto insurance (for two people; I am helping a friend who can't ...
- 3,423
42
votes
Accepted
How to handle a parent going through divorce asking to borrow money
Lending money between relations is typically a bad idea. This can lead to very awkward dinner conversations and has been known to terminate these precious relationships. In these cases the wisdom is ...
- 79.6k
38
votes
Fair interest rate on $2k personal loan to a friend
Shakespeare was pretty clear on this almost 500 years ago.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be, For loan oft loses both itself and
friend...
There's a high probability (approximately 30-50% depending ...
- 1,770
33
votes
Can you hire a cosigner online? And does it work? Has anyone tried it?
A cosigner is 100% responsible for the entire debt. The lender would track down the cosigner and enforce the terms of the loan if you are unable to pay.
Why would a person you don't know take on this ...
- 145k
31
votes
Fair interest rate on $2k personal loan to a friend
"Fair" is not something that we are likely to be able to quantify. In the US right now (June 2024), banks would charge something like 36% annual interest on a credit card cash advance. ...
- 28.3k
25
votes
Accepted
Can I take personal loan in UK and send the proceeds to parents abroad?
There are no particular restrictions in the UK on sending money abroad, so if you can get the loan in the first place you can send the money abroad.
The main potential issue will be that many (maybe ...
- 30.2k
24
votes
Can I become debt free or should I file for bankruptcy? How do I manage my debt and finances?
One thing that I don't see addressed in the other answers is this:
I am helping a friend who can't pay auto insurance
You MUST stop this. While I understand, and applaud, the desire to help a ...
- 2,602
24
votes
Accepted
Is it possible to get one loan for four different (but closely related) purchases?
So, is it possible to get one single loan to buy all four pieces, with
all four pieces as collateral, even though they all come from
different companies?
You ask if this is possible. Yes, it's ...
- 3,478
22
votes
Accepted
Tips/strategies to managing my debt
There is no magic bullet for debt reduction. You owe money and the only way to get more is to:
Reduce expenses
Increase income
Some back of the napkin math on $66k annually and 25% payroll ...
- 10.1k
17
votes
Personal loan while unemployed?
Its not likely for these reasons:
You currently don't have an income. How can you payback a loan if you have no income?
There is no collateral. In the event you do not pay, nothing of value could ...
- 79.6k
17
votes
Tips/strategies to managing my debt
There's not an easy solution - you are going to have to sacrifice to get things paid off. The more you sacrifice, the faster you can get things paid off.
21% is an insane car loan. Even though you're ...
- 142k
16
votes
Personal loan to renovate my mother's home
You can take out a personal loan for any reason - to burn the money for fun, if you like.
But be aware that you owe it back, not your mother, or anyone else. They will come to you for the repayments.
- 38k
15
votes
Is it possible to get one loan for four different (but closely related) purchases?
According to an article from AOPA, there are kit-build aircraft loans available - these are akin to home build construction loans. Disbursement of funds is contingent on build milestones being met, ...
- 292
14
votes
3% personal loan online. Is this a scam?
It is a scam. Not only will it get your personal information, which could allow him to impersonate you (like, using your identity as the generous lender on a future scam), in order to fulfill the loan,...
- 845
14
votes
Why is proof of income requested for certain loans but not others?
Why don't you just put your down payment on one of your credit cards?
(Note: I'm not actually suggesting that you do this. Please read on.)
There are a few reasons why you wouldn't (or couldn't) do ...
- 116k
14
votes
INR 10 million borrowed from friend at 7% interest per annum
Loan repayment can't be tax deductible except for home loan. If the home loan for first house is taken from close friends and relatives, it has the same tax benefits as if taken from bank. The rate of ...
- 57.2k
13
votes
3% personal loan online. Is this a scam?
any amount, any length of repay time
Ask if you can have a billion dollars for a billion years.
On a more serious note, that would actually be horrible advice because your monthly payment ($2.5M) ...
- 47.3k
13
votes
What prevents one from taking a personal loan to pay off credit card debt from same bank?
Does that mean the loan cannot be used to pay off debt by the same bank? What stops loan borrowers from simply transferring the cash deposited into the checking account to pay the balance on the ...
- 185k
13
votes
Fair interest rate on $2k personal loan to a friend
Interest rates reflect the lender's concern that they might not get the money back when promised (or at all).
They also reflect "opportunity cost" --the returns you would have gotten if the ...
- 51.6k
13
votes
Tips/strategies to managing my debt
I also am trying to build some investments but not sure where to start. I only contribute to a high yield savings account. If I could get some advice on that, that would be great!
I'm going to show ...
- 3,395
12
votes
Can I become debt free or should I file for bankruptcy? How do I manage my debt and finances?
The tropes that got you here
There's a core pattern of thinking that drove you here. It is a well known trope, and it has already made you a debt slave. Now, whilst in the middle of it, you must ...
12
votes
Accepted
Securing a loan with a loan, does this even make sense?
As part of the loan approval process your friend will have to prove at two different times that they have a plan for the down payment, and they will have to show bank account statements to prove it. ...
- 145k
12
votes
Can you hire a cosigner online? And does it work? Has anyone tried it?
Let's think about how to make money co-signing loans.
First, we'd need a large pool of money (say, $1 million), so that we could operate profitably. This allows us to co-sign on many loans at once, ...
- 488
12
votes
Does increasing loan term increase APR?
Yes, typically longer term loans have higher interest rates since it's more risk for the lender (among other reasons).
I would choose the shortest term loan that you can afford - you'll pay less ...
- 142k
11
votes
What is the next step to collect money after a judgment has been ignored?
According to LegalZoom:
If your debtor is unwilling to pay and you know they have the means,
it's time to use your local sheriff. You have three options to
collect: a bank levy, wage ...
- 10.2k
10
votes
How much interest should I pay on a loan from a friend?
What kind of interest did the two of you agree upon when you borrowed the money?
If you didn't discuss this in advance, what kind of interest do the two of you now agree would be fair?
If your ...
- 51.6k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible