HELP - Lost my job, and can't pay my credit cards

[skyisthelimit]

Reelax you can have a 725 with 60% UTI, age and Inq's play a big role in your report also.

[MarcinXP]

I was in your situation few years ago. Ultimately what I did is with my one unemployment check I paid rent and 2 minimum payments on credit cards and with another check car and 3 minimum payment on credit cards...in turn I used the credit cards to pay rest of the bills and food. You still have room on your credit cards so I would pay minimums on all of them and or try to do some BT% for example you have $500 macy...could you BT that to BOA or perhaps Discover? I lived like this for 5 months...I paid minimums on each card and then used cards to survive...I had about 40% utilization when I lost my job and when started new job I had about 55%...my minimum payments kept my credit on track, while I did spend little bit more than minimum on credit cards. Also first thing I did when I lost my job is setup a budget and squeeze it to a minimum....Had Cable/Internet and Home Phone with Comcast...removed Cable and Home Phone and Downgraded Internet to Economy speed...just enough for resumes and job search...Cellphone went from Unlimited MInutes and Text to 500 minutes and 500 texts per month, Netflix got cancelled, Gym Membership cancelled (thank god no contract) and also A/C was kept to a minimum with limits on lights along with TV and also no dry cleaning. Stopped eating out and ate at home and did coupons (Yes me a guy coupons for grocery stores)..LOL...By my calculations I saved about $450 a month..plus gas since I was not going anywhere. Sold my collection of Blu-Rays for abou $600 bucks to local Disc Replay and paid my minimum payments 2 months that way..also Ford Motor Credit allowed me to skip a payment and put it at the end of the loan twice in 5 months without blemishes on credit....Stop going out with friends and some of them understood and even bought my food just to keep me company and not have me go out..of course 5 months later after my first check I took them out (2 of my best friends). My credit did not suffer that period...Those were some dark dark days..I don't mind saying, but stay on course, apply, apply, apply...send out your resume and take anything you can that pays more than unemployment. Not sure on some states, but my state said that if I found a part time job and made half of my unemployment I could still get the whole unemployment benefits. Most important was insurance...I skipped Cobra..thank god I was in good health. In essense you need to do the following.

1) Set a budget - what can you cut out, down, downgrade, remove, slash....!

2) what are the minimums. Macy pay minimum only..dont use the card...I doubt you going to shop there for a while.

3) If you have some bills that use a credit card such as power bill take that as an advantage...rather than spending $80 bucks out of debit card or checking account to pay for power bill...pay your credit card provided or 2 of them minimum payments and then use those cards to pay the electric bill...

4) Resume and Application..Apply for everything that you can...first 3 weeks are the hardest as you probably wont hear anything back.

5) Look for items you have that you can sell or pawn...I don't care what items...collections, music, movies, books, artworks...all that can be replaced and you can repurchase probably within next 7 years or quicker...but your derogs will stay that long...not worth it...SELL IT!

6) it was already mentioned...call your credit card companies..see what they can offer you...maybe you can pay less, skip a payment, get into some program.

7) Don't be ashamed to ask for help!

Good Luck with your job search!

[MarcinXP]

Oh..one more thing...calling your credit card companies would be my last resort. Like others and I have stated, you can move some cash around, pay minimums and then use cards...you can probably do this for few months...possibly 6 before it all start crashing down...and then call your creditors....however if you call them now...they might take AA...for example I called Wells Fargo...had a CC with $2500 limit and $986 balance....tried to see what they can do....they were not helpful and infact they have lowered my limit to $1000 balance...not only I still had to make payments....but I could not use that card for anything...be really careful!

[Creditaddict]

Okay take your available on Bank of America and BT Macy's

Take Discover and Hawaiian and scoup up the Household and what you can of the Orchard.

That will bring you down to 3 payments...

With score still good I might look at a Citi Card or something and BT whatever limit they give you from your highest APR... getting things to 0% will most likely bring down your Min. payment a lot!!

the banks besides maybe Discover are NOT going to work with you with 95% certainty because I have done it before... you have to figure out each banks policy and it's a dance of what can be said and can't be said....

USBank will call you 5 days after payment due date... at that point they can do financial hardships.... usually 12 months 0% and a fixed payment

Bank Of America found not very helpful and same with chase... you have to much money and they won't do it... you don't have enough money they won't do it... never got this one.... If I don't have enough wouldn't you do it then, but they say something about government won't allow them to start a plan that you can't pay based on your money...

and it' not about late and have it hit your credit... it's like mortgages and all the programs, you have to be late... sorry everyone says no no but it's just the way it is! I have done it and right now everyone is getting paid and the ones that worked with me are getting paid more!

Private Message if you want any more specifics, etc.

[calihlove75]

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@MarcinXP wrote:

Oh..one more thing...calling your credit card companies would be my last resort. Like others and I have stated, you can move some cash around, pay minimums and then use cards...you can probably do this for few months...possibly 6 before it all start crashing down...and then call your creditors....however if you call them now...they might take AA...for example I called Wells Fargo...had a CC with $2500 limit and $986 balance....tried to see what they can do....they were not helpful and infact they have lowered my limit to $1000 balance...not only I still had to make payments....but I could not use that card for anything...be really careful!

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So agree here. Many times when others know you are down and out, it feels like they try to make things worse!!!

[JusdoNit]

So very awful to hear about your job loss.  As easy as it may be to ignore creditors... please follow the other posters advice and try your best to deal with it head on moderately.

We all  here have positive thoughts for you 

[Crashem]

The reality unless you are willing to lie, you shouldn't be able to get any more prime cards as your income has been reduced.  I do agree that you should approach the CCC's and see what you can work out.  However, credit is a tool for your financial goals.  You should not put your financial future below your credit goals.

[Repo-ed]

People laugh at me, but this is exactly why I get the credit card "insurance" for lifes little mishaps.

[FrugalRican]

I got rid of the BoA "insurance" because it was hurting me in the long run.

When you have a huge balance, that .89 cents for every $100 can actually hurt if you're paying minimums and it takes a huge chunk out of your monthly payment, specially for an insurance that lasts, what... 3 months?

OP, are you paying rent? What is your family situation? Single, married, kids?

Because these are all factors that could affect your budget. If you can pay just the minimums to get by, then do so.

And I hate to say this, but #1 - I hope you bounce back VERY quickly, but #2 - Once you get a job, please work on getting those balances down QUICK... as you can see now, 12K is a LOT more when you don't have a job. Trust me, I've been there, and never again. I'm sincerely hoping you have a quick turnaround.

[CreditCrusader]

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@calihlove75 wrote:

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@MarcinXP wrote:

Oh..one more thing...calling your credit card companies would be my last resort. Like others and I have stated, you can move some cash around, pay minimums and then use cards...you can probably do this for few months...possibly 6 before it all start crashing down...and then call your creditors....however if you call them now...they might take AA...for example I called Wells Fargo...had a CC with $2500 limit and $986 balance....tried to see what they can do....they were not helpful and infact they have lowered my limit to $1000 balance...not only I still had to make payments....but I could not use that card for anything...be really careful!

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So agree here. Many times when others know you are down and out, it feels like they try to make things worse!!!

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+1...Calling credit card companies and telling them you lost your job, IMO, would most likely result in your util creeping toward 100% when most of the prime lenders begin to balance chase you to close the gap between what you owe and what you can still charge. I had this happen to me when I made the mistake of calling my CCC to let them know I lost my job but had picked up several part-time jobs to fill the gap in employment. They rewarded my honesty and willingness to keep paying them slightly more than the minimum payment (I was not late once...even at that point) by balance chasing me that month...and the next...and the next. They kept lowering my CL with each passing payment until I worked some overtime and paid in full...after which they lowered my CL to $200.

Let's be honest here...these CC lenders don't give a rip about what you are going through. They are in the loss-prevention and profit business...and as bad as it sounds, they have some justification for this. In some cases (not necessarily yours), people go in the other direction of saving their accounts and credit. They max out the cards and walk away from the obligations. Credit card companies know this and may take your honest admission as a cue to minimize their losses. Minimizes their risk, but hurts you every step of the way.

I'd take whatever jobs you can to stay afloat. This can only end badly for you if you stop paying so much as one minimum payment.