Car repair bill pushed my credit card to the limit last month

I was driving back from work in Austin when my alternator died on I-35. Had to tow it to a shop and they hit me with a $680 bill I couldn't pay in cash. Put it on my Visa and now I'm staring at a $4,200 balance that I swore I'd have paid off by now. Anyone else get thrown off track by an emergency repair like this?

2 comments

2 Comments

jakeperry1d ago

Man that sucks, I had the same thing happen with my transmission a couple years ago and it wrecked my budget for months. What helped me was calling the credit card company and asking if they could lower my interest rate for a few months while I got caught back up. They actually did it, and I made a deal with myself to throw fifty extra bucks at it every paycheck until I was back to zero.

baker.riley18h ago

Another angle is that most people don't realize their credit card company has a hardship program. It's not just about asking for a lower rate once. You can get them to waive late fees, suspend payments for 30-60 days, and stop interest from accruing for a while. They won't advertise it, but if you tell them you lost your job or had a big medical bill, they have reps who handle those cases. The catch is they might close your account or put it on hold until you catch up. But if you're already drowning in debt from a car repair, a frozen card with no interest is way better than a maxed out card growing every month.