I have about $71,000 in credit card debt. It’s a combination of lotsa medical debt and rolling over lots of other stuff. Don’t judge, I already know I’m in trouble.
I have NEVER been late on a payment (on anything, ever). The debt is spread over 5 cards and ALL BALANCES are at 3% interest or lower. The balances are such $32,000, $14,000, $10,000, $10,000 and $5,000. On these I pay $470, $300, $200, $150, and $150 per month. I also have 2 other cards available with $30k limits each – in case balance transfer is suggested by someone.
With the housing market as it is, I cannot get a home equity loan to consolidate debt. I also have $20k in student loans.
My monthly bills are making it so I CANNOT make ends meet. Rather than have any missed payments or late payments, I put groceries and gas back on the credit card I’ve just paid on time. This is NOT RIGHT, but I don’t know how to stop this evil cycle I’ve gotten myself into.
I buy generic, cut coupons, conserve electric and water, and penny pinch like crazy. I pay extra on bills when I can, but that bites me in the ass when auto insurance or HOA dues come around and I don’t have any money saved and just end up putting those on the credit card again.
Any suggestions?
- I’ve always had a great credit rating, despite my credit card debt. I’m not sure if a consolidation loan or trying to settle on a few cards would be the best bet. I have no collateral to offer for a consolidation loan. I’ve already ebay-ed everything I can for some living expenses cash. And IF I could get a credit card to settle (which I doubt they would because I’ve never made a late payment), I have absolutely no cash lying around to pay the settlement amount…so prior to trying to settle, I’d probably want to get that cash from a totally different credit card and have it ready to pay the settlement amount.
ACK! What has happened to me?? Please help with good suggestions and not yell at me for falling into this mess – my stress level and health has already suffered due to this mess. Thank you.
stop charging on the cards.
If the interest is 3% or lower that is really low. Lower than getting a home loan. Just pay as much as you can on each one until they are paid off.
Left by Tim on April 26th, 2010
Be careful with those debt consolidation or negotiation places.
They take your money, tell you to do nothing, and they don’t do anything at all. Next thing you are in court.
There is a goverment program called nfcc.org or gov (can’t remember)
For $24 / month or free they will tell you what to do. There are no easy fixes.
/
Left by Judy on April 27th, 2010
couldn’t you go and see a free debt management company and see if they can help you
Left by rennickelizabe on April 30th, 2010
ok start with the lowest debt $5000 and it is at $150 a month right. Have a garage sale get a second JOB and escalate payments on this till paid off. Cut that card up. Now you have an additional $150 to use towards the second card of $10,000 balance so now you send them not less than $300 monthly yes it will take three years at that rate to make it go away.but 2 down. Then you now have an additional $300 to ad to the next 10,000 card and now you send them $500 a month and that one takes less than 2 years and it is gone as well. And so on and so on and so on you can come out of the mess you built for yourself but it takes eating rice and beans and beans and rice and no vacations or eating out but YOU must do it yourself as no one helped you get this far into debt except YOU.
Left by golferwhoworks on May 2nd, 2010
The last thing I ever like to see is bankruptcy where creditors loaned money to you in good faith and got screwed, but I don’t see any light at the end of the tunnel for you. Here are a few ideas. Go to your medical providers that you still owe. Explain that you cannot pay and are likely to file for bankruptcy. Ask if they would accept some small payment as full payment and write off the rest. Sell your car. You cannot afford it. Cut up your credit cards. Visit the food bank. You are officially poor. Accept it and work hard at becoming solvent. Meet with a credit counselor to repackage your debt into one longer term plan. Good luck.
Left by Joe P on May 4th, 2010
During the summer of 2008, I found myself in the same spot that you’re in now. I had never been late on anything and my minimum payments were killing me. I was almost to a point where I was going to file bankruptcy. I, like you, had good interest rates. I called the creditors and they all said that there was no help for me because I was a “good” customer and had never been late or anything. After several calls, I had a representative tell me that I would almost benefit from missing the payment. I couldn’t understand how being a “poor” customer made my situation better but he explained to me that by missing the payment, I would be eligible for repayment programs that they didn’t offer to “good” customers.
At this point, I decided that I was NOT using credit for anything else. I couldn’t rob Peter to pay Paul anymore, so I stopped doing that. I took care of my 4 walls first such as rent, water, electircity, food etc. With the money I had left, I had to figure up how much I had to go towards my debt. I contacted the creditors again and told them what I was able to pay each month. I ended up paying minimums on all but the largest payment. For me, that was at $502 a month. This was a debt consolidation through the bank. (consolidation was the WORST idea I ever had). I skipped the payment knowing it would hurt my credit in the long run.
Since then, they have offered me a 0% interest for 60 months on this loan and my repayment is $360 a month. After 6 months on the program, they will erase the negative marks on my credit. I made sure to get this all in writing before I accepted.
If you’re willing to talk to your creditors, and maybe even miss a payment or two, you can get out of this on your own without a 3rd party.
Remember, no matter what, your necessities come first!!
Lastly, for my medical bills, I negotiated my payment. I even pay $10.00 a month on one. I just told them that I was at a point where I wanted to pay something and their minimum was way too high. They sent me a form for “financial hardship” where I listed all of my bills, and they allowed me to lower the payment.
You just have to get on the phone, don’t avoid it, be persistent and take care of what you MUST have first.
Good luck!!!
Left by sonrisa.traviesa on May 4th, 2010
Dept management companies only take more of your hard earned money. I was in your position 3 years ago. I couldn’t get a loan (secured or unsecured). I did not have enough equity in the house and the bills kept piling up. First of all, YOU MUST stop using credit to buy things. Using credit only makes you pay more for everything that you buy. Second, set a very tight budget. Third, take the budget you just set and tighten it up some more. A guarantee that you find money leaking out of your life that you didn’t even know was there. Take all of the left over money from our budget (Whether it is a $1.00 or $600.00) and apply it to one single bill. Pay the min. amounts on all of the other bills. The easy way to decide what bill to pay first is take the total amount owed divided by the min. payment due. That gives you a number. Sort your bills using the divided number from the smallest number to the largest. Next take the extra money and apply it to only the first payment. This will focus your payments. Make sure you only pay the min on your other depts. When the first dept is paid off apply the extra money and the min payment from the first payment and apply it to the next bill. Keep doing this over and over until all of your depts are paid off. Run the numbers and I almost guarantee that you can have all your credit dept paid off in three years or less. You can get out of this, but it wont be easy, and you can do it yourself.
Left by mjghunter on May 6th, 2010