After losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in t...

After losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in the Mortgage meltdown of 2008, I had rebuilt my very poor credit, loss of a job, and a FICO score of 500 to well over 700 and perfect credit except for the debt to available credit ratio. With decent credit again and availability of high-limit credit cards It's easy to begin to overuse the correspondingly high-interest cards; in my case as alternative to dipping into rebuilt savings. That's a mistake you should not make.

After reviewing the onslaught of direct loan offers I developed a debt-reduction plan that would eliminate these high interest, high payment credit cards, pay off other high payment non-credit card payments and reduce my monthly payments by over $500.

Getting started with the "lending Club" offer was a rocky start, which requires you to stick to your plan and not be persuaded or pressured to accept more than you need or terms that just don't meet your objectives. With the Lending Club system not able to pay any type of non-credit card account and initially not even accepting my credit card accounts, a high pressure salesperson tried unsuccessfully to pressure me to accept the all-cash loan instead of direct payment of the required amount to qualify for the lower rates and payment. The all-cash loan will have a significantly higher rate and payment.

To make a long story short, continued dialogue apparently solved the problem. I was able to restructure my planned reduction, finally enter the credit card accounts to pay off direct, and receive enough cash to eliminate the other high-payment accounts with a net reduction of $491.00 in payments and untold thousands in interest charges. A few double payments over the next three months will eliminate three additional cards and bring my net monthly payment reductions to $621.00. A major financial goal achieved.

I highly recommend you explore this process. Just have a firm plan, stick to it, and don't accept anything less than a deal that most benefits you - not the Lender.