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@hippychic823 wrote:
I definitely don't want to access new credit at this time. I guess I'm probably focusing too much on my score but my whole CR is just a big mess. It is literally nothing but collections and my car loan (the only positive thing on there besides a few payday loans/finance companies that I got loans through and paid off quickly). My score is in low 400's, even if I wanted new credit I couldn't get it. I just want to stop living in fear of getting my wages garnished and stop the never ending phone calls. But also, I would like to see an improvement in my scores because they're just sooooo horrible lol
Forget the number for awhile. Pretend it's 700. Anything to not focus on that.
Focus on the idea of settling/paying debts.
As far as whether or not you should file bk, I think that just goes back to how you feel about the larger debts, namely the foreclosure. Please do the math of how much you can afford to put towards your debts each month and then just figure out how long it would take you to pay it all to 0 (settling or not) and consider if that's a timeframe you are comfortable with. If not, then bk might be a better option for you.
I don't think it's fair for us to compare our situations to yours. It's your life, not ours. We can offer you hope and guidance, but truthfully most of the "quick success" getters from poor to fair are getting rid of VERY OLD debts and then opening new credit, or paying down utility.
Your journey is going to be longer and probably more frustrating, and I cannot imagine the amount of stress you're under with the threat of garnishment from so many sources.
I think the sooner you get your budget for paying these debts figured out and communicating that to the CA's, the lower your stress levels will be. They tend to be less harassmenty if you're paying them and communicating with them.
If you can afford to pay them in full, I would. You're going to have a better time with goodwill deletions if you do. Even if they won't remove them, the notation that it was paid in full looks better than settled for partial. Your goal is to greatly improve your financial situation and your credit profile in the quickest time possible - so just sit down with a spreadsheet and take the amount you have to put toward debt every month and divy it up among the CA's. Call them up, and tell them what you can afford to pay per month (or per pay period) and start paying it asap.
You can think about BK on the foreclosure and perhaps talk to a few more lawyers before making a decision... do you know anyone who could refer you to someone trustworthy?
Keep me posted
I think it all feels so overwhelming and horrible, the key is to get back some sense of control and empowerment. When you're afraid of garnishments or judgments, the worst part (for me, at least) was that terrible, helpless feeling... and the shame.
I went through all of that (more than once) due to all sorts of awful life circumstances, but like the other poster said I was only able recently to get my credit on the road to improvement because a lot of time has passed. My strategy when I pulled my credit report back in 2012 and it was in the low 400s was actually to just... wait. I learned that wasn't the best strategy and I should've at least opened a couple of small secured cards to have SOMETHING reporting positively while I waited, but otherwise it wasn't such a bad strategy. It taught me to budget better, live within my small means, etc. It's amazing how creative you get when you don't have access to even one dime of credit lol. BUT that was only possible for me at that time because there weren't any debts that were going to result in garnishments or judgments or any of that awfulness.
The foreclosure debt is really going to kill you if they are at all inclined to go after you. The other ones are probably workable to either settle for about 40% of what you owe or enter into small monthly payments. They aren't going to garnish or sue you if you've either paid them in a settlement or come up with a monthly payment plan they accept. That foreclosure is the real risk. I don't know what you can afford to pay on your non-foreclosure debts but they aren't overly high and you can likely work something out to stop any threat of litigation and/or garnishment.
I had a foreclosure in 2008 and they never even contacted me past the initial letters. My balance was very low, though, only about 6k owing plus some fees. Still, it eventually just fell off my credit report quietly with no drama whatsoever. So if they aren't currently hounding you it might be worth it to just focus on the other ones, get them all settled or in repayment, and just wait and see. You can always file for BK quickly if that foreclosure tries to bite you at some point down the line.