First of all sorry to hear about your situation. You can do it though, you can pay off these bills! But like some others said, it's going to be tough. I believe in personal responsiblity and if you incur the bills and you can pay them then you should. Even if you incurred the bills form a hardship such as a job loss, etc. We all have problems sometimes...I have, but I still paid my bills...even though I probably could have filed BK. Filing BK just because it's easier is not exercising personal responsiblity in my opinion. Like someone else on here said, we all pay for BK with higher rates, etc. Just because you can file it doesn't mean you should. Just because others do it doesn't mean you should. Yes some people may be so bad off that they have to...and that's what the law is there for...but if you don't have to don't. I'm pretty sure you'll feel better about yourself if you work yourself out of this hole on your own.
You said you have a car payment, but I don't think you've said how much it is. I think you should sell your car and get a beater...a very cheap beater. You said you only work 3 miles from home so a beater will do for a while. That would probably free up a few hundred dollars a month, not to mention your insurance would go down too.
Dave Ramsey is excellent at getting people out of debt. If you haven't heard of him look him up. He has books as well as a radio program. I don't agree with every single thing he says...but he is very good at getting people out of debt.
Good luck man, you can do it!!
Fox
@Anonymous wrote:
@Anonymous wrote:
@yfan wrote:
@tommywerdine wrote:
The only other option I have is a loan from someone I know. It's a stretch, but I'm going to ask them for 50k and pay them back. He's a multi-multi-multi millionair, and is older with no kids. (no im not using him, since i do plan to pay him back...)
If you do this, make sure to give this person a receipt for the loan, with a clearly defined time within which you are expected to pay it back. This is important not only for your personal integrity, but having payment terms clearly defined in writing also protects you.
I'd take it a step further. Pay him interest on the loan. If there is interest out, there is more incentive to pay the money back. Give him 5% annually, or 0.4167% monthly. Better than any CD out there, he's more likely to give you the money, you're more likely to pay it off rapidly.
Heck, I'd go one over prime?
Best movie ever.
@CreditCuriousity wrote:IMO declaring BK is a cheap way out of things. Yes it is written into the law and eveyone has the right to declare it assuming they don't make to much money otherwise it is Chap. 13, but hey why doesn't someone just charge up another 30k then Chap 13 isn't possible so you can file Chap 7? I guess I am sick of people that filed Chap 7 a year out having 700 scores and over 40-50k in available credit when they just burnt the lenders and some will repeat this cycle again. Chap 7 for medical is one thing, but for CC bills that can be controlled is another thing. BK should be your absolute last option! Move to another city that pays more $? Hey I have moved all around the country for jobs that pay more cash to improve my lifestyle, sometimes you gotta do things you don't want to do. Anyways /end rant on BK.
LOL same here... I filed Ch 13 due to an extended job loss that had me in a situation similar than the OP.
I made too much for Ch 7 so I spent 4 years paying creditors. It strikes a nerve when I see Ch 7 filers with their 50k (and in some cases 100k) credit lines inside of 2 years.
I blame the system...
I'm guessing you want eveyrthing paid in full asap with no late at all? You have some good funds to work with minus your living expenses. I get a lot of emails stating I can get a consolidation loan. I would give that a try if you want all bills put into one with a lower payment and more flexibility. You have the advantage of paying more then you owe in a month or the minimum if need be. Otherwise, I would do the old concentrate on one at a time & pay the minimum on the rest. P.S. if you were an idiot, you would not be here asking for help. I'm sure you can bounce back. 
Love William H. Macy in Shameless!!!
@Anonymous wrote:
There's really no other remedy because if you BK, that's another 7-10 years with no credit. Then when you rebuild from that; NFCU woun't be around to give you a 10K credit card. It'll be $300 secured cards from CapOne.
As said I filed BK13 due to an extended job loss that had me in a situation similar to the OP.
Rebuilding hasn't been difficult... I don't have the $50-$100k available credit and 700 scores that most BK7 filers have within 2 years... but I do have my pride for paying back my creditors and I have 1 year to go till my reports are clean.
I didn't have to get any secured cards on my way to a solid profile... almost 2 years since discharge and I just hit $50k in CL to go with my shiny new beast of a car.