I'm 22 years old (23 in May) and I have gotten myself into some serious financial trouble. This website and message boards actually helped me clean my credit up the first time when I was 18 or 19 years old. At that time I first pulled my credit report and found numerous accounts my mother had opened in my name over the years for cellphones, utilities, etc. It took me a little while but luckily they were all small enough I was able to pay them off and worked to build my credit back up.
My score started to rise and I had a couple of small rebuilding cards (Orchard Bank, First Premier) that I had always been good at quickly paying off. I decided to try for another card just out of curiosity and was surprised when I got it for a much larger limit than I was used to up until that point (4k). Well I was young and stupid (and still am) and went on an app spree and got numerous credit cards that were unneccessary. I still did pretty well for a while though, I kept everything paid down and was able to still keep my score on the rise.
About 2 years ago though I started running into problems, my living situation changed so my rent and basic utilities got larger, I had car trouble that cost me quite a bit to get fixed, I used a card to pay for a lot of dental work that I had been needing for years, I also just made alot of stupid decisions and bought things I didn't need and couldn't afford. I always had the thought that I would be ok because the company I work for (a bank go figure) had given substantial Christmas bonuses for the past 20 years, and I had intended to use that money to pay down the debt while making the minimums throughout the year and paying whatever extra I could. The first year I worked for the company I got a prorated bonus of just over 2k, so I had every intention of using that money each year to help pay down the debt. Well as most of you are probably guessing by now, the economy hit the bank I work for pretty hard, and they cut our bonuses and pay raises for the past 2 years.
I have been struggling ever since but have been able to just barely keep my head above water making minimums but at times having to use my cards to live on because the minimums are depleting so much of my income that I haven't known what else to do. I am also still a student, so I was getting small amounts back from my financial aid refunds, and I used those to help pay the minimums over the past 2 years. But I was essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul and I know that isn't a way to carry on, and I am unable to anyway. I am finally close to finishing school and my courses this year are more expensive so my financial refunds will essentially stop from here on out. I have looked for second jobs and so far haven't found any that were willing to work with my full time job scheduling, I had short term work in retail over the holidays but it was just seasonal so it only lasted a month.
I have tried contacting the nfcc, they told me they could work out a plan but it would still be a stretch for me to make those payments, she asked if I had looked into bankruptcy. I had never even considered this, but now I'm wondering if its an option or if someone else knows of some other way to go about this?
I have a car loan that I still owe about 7k on. I don't really have a problem with this payment, I have been able to make it without much trouble. I did look into trying to get rid of my car, but its worth only a few hundred more than I owe on it.
I also have credit card debt over multiple cards that equals around 15k.
My annual income is only around 25k.
I'm not sure what other information you might need, but ask and I'll give whatever information I can! Just looking for help! My biggest mistake is that after I initally got my credit "fixed" I stopped really using the boards and didn't keep up with being financially responsible the way that I should have. I was the first person in my family to have good credit, and I have essentially screwed it up now.
I am not in denial that these problems are entirely my fault. I overspent, I counted on something that was not guaranteed, and I made really stupid decisions. Just trying to figure out how to get back ono the right path now
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7/25/09 -- EQ 651 ; TU 634 ; EX: ??
2/22/10 -- EQ 652; TU 657; Ex: ??
Shootin' for 700!!!
