I need help deciding what to do about my debt

[Anonymous]

Due to some problems with my living situation i haven't been able to pay my credit cards for the past few months. I've either been scrambling to make ends meet or i get overdrawn on my bank account and when my next paycheck comes  it goes into paying the overdraft fees along with whatever is past due. i'm finally in a place where i'm not living paycheck to paycheck but still struggling financially. either way i want to start paying of my cards because i'm pretty sure my credit is complete trash now or close to it so the sooner i pay it off the sooner i can start to rebuild it. i wouldn't say i'm in extreme amount of debt but its enough for me to panic because i cant seem to find a way to pay it off. I'm trying to decide whether to let it all go to collections then pay them or pay whatever i can to the cc companies and hope its enough until i catch up. I have 3 credit card and 1 personal load which thankfully i still have been able to pay this whole time. I have 2 card with a limit of 500 and 1 for a 1000. I am over my limit on all 3 cards right now and with all the late fees and missed monthly payments in order to catch up i have to pay +150$. should i let it go to collections or find a way to reach and agreement with my credit card companies? I'm just worried that the interest will keep piling up unless i do something

[medicgrrl]

Call your credit card companies and see what kind of arrangement you can work out.  Collections and charge off's will be much worse on your future rebuild.  Sometimes you can negotiate lower rates and waived fee's etc, but you need to call them.

[Creditaddict]

I would call the credit cards and ask for a financial hardship... all banks have it once you are at least 1 day late, some make you be 15 days late but whatever... They will offer to close the card and reduce interest and payments usually... if you want something temporarily they might have a 6-month program... I wouldn't be afraid of closing your cards to do the programs... some don't even report closed until you finish paying off the balance but as you stated the fees and over-limit, etc. are keeping you from really getting caught up and current... these programs will stop all those fees and will even report current once you bring it back under the limit you had originally.

so say you go into a program that requires $25 a month payments but you are over your $500 limit by $200... if you can pay the $25 required plus $175 and then that will actually bring your account totally current and they would report it to credit report that way... otherwise if you are 60 days behind, they will continue to report you are 60 days behind until you pay yourself current but you wouldn't go further behind or collect any more fees because of the program.

[Anonymous]

I repeat, call your creditors!!!! They can help you, but not if you don't ask. I would add- have a budget figured out and know how much you can pay to each creditor monthly and still afford extravagances like food... power... a roof... You want to make sure you can meet the term of the repayment plan without falling behind again.

Everyone goes through hard times. I'm glad you are getting things straightened out. Keep us posted!

[Anonymous]

thank you guys for the advice i had no idea that i could set up that sort of payment plan with my cc companies. i had been to scared to call/answer them because i wasn't sure what i would be able to do if they decided they wanted all of the money upfront. ill be sure to be back when its all paid off so that i can get advice on rebuilding my trashed credit. Again thank you all for the help.

[medicgrrl]

Did you get some arrangements worked out?