If you remember, I was searching for a personal loan to consolidate our debt; four credit cards with high interest rates. Well, a lot has happened since then!
I have ADHD or a severe Type A personality; aka – I have a hard time waiting for something when I want it done now. LOL.
Here is the senerio:
- Listed personal loan request with Lending Club…
- Applied to Credit Union to see if the rates would be any better…
- Found out CU loan would be a 2-yr loan, no origination fee (save $186.50) a bit higher payment of $240, but would save me another $300 in interest over LC and I could get it faster.
Well, if you remember I just recieved a raise. Currently, we pay approx $200 on those 4 credit cards. An extra $40 a month is worth saving another $300 in interest to me. Discussed with husband and accepted CU personal loan (8 hours).
- Mind you… Lending Club fully funded my account in 16 hours with 85 investors!. That is fantastic for my peer-to-peer personal loan!
Originally, I was going to cancel my personal loan with LC upon receiving the CU loan. But I already verified my bank account for transfer of funds. Instead here is what my husband and I did (tis a smart move):
- My husband has a retirement loan that is costing us $441 a month with a total of $3000
- We PIF’d the retirement loan
Why this was a smart move.
Former Set Up:
4 Credit Cards | @$200 month | Total: $5000 |
Retirement Loan | @$441 month | Total: $3000 |
Total Payments | @$641 month | Total: $8000 |
New Set Up:
CU Personal Loan | @$240 month | Total: $5000 |
LU Personal Loan | @$164 month | Total: $5000 |
Total Payments | @$404 month | Total: $10,000 |
Still have: | $1,800 sitting in bank |
So now the question remains…
We have $1,600 sitting in our bank. I may do one of two things:
- Save up another $1,100 to pay off my retirement loan of $2,700 or…
- Sit in the bank account and let LC to automatically withdrawl their payments as they will be doing
I could apply this as a partial payment to another card… I am not quite sure. What are your recommendations?
BTW, my experience with Lending Club was wonderful! I was quickly funded $5000 with a low interest rate and reasonable payments. I love that it could all be done online. Plus, their customer service is friendly – was able to answer all my questions with ease. If you compare a personal loan rates with your bank institution, you will realize that Lending Club offers very competitive rates. I highly recommend them. And do plan on becoming an investor when my debt tables are turned from ladened to free. 🙂