I messed up bad

[Anonymous]

I had great credit about a year ago. I took out some credit cards, about 15 accounts. This is the first month I can't keep up with the bills. I have no resources other then my job. With the late fees, etc. I have no hope of getting caught back up. I did speak to a credit counseler from my bank, and he's working on things for me, but I'm afraid with that things are beyond hope with the compounding late fees, over limit fees etc.  Is there a way to work with these people before I'm forced to go bankrupt?

[BungalowMo]

Are any of these accts late as of today?  Are they posting late on your CR's? 

If these are all still with the OC's...CALL THEM!!!!  Please don't wait.  

I'm quite sure some will work with you.  Are you pretty much maxed out?  

Here's the tough ??  What can you sell?  Take pics, post on craigslist.  Get some liquid $$

And finally...spill the beans: 

Who?     Amt Owed?    Limit?

1.

2.

3.

"
"
"
15.

We can help ya sort it out.  Are any cards with the bank trying to help you?  Hope so!  

[Anonymous]

Yes, it sucks you are here and I know hope seems far away but there are things you can do. 

Now take a deep breath, and don't freak out.  You can't put together a plan to combat anything if you can't be calm and think clearly.

Great advice by Bungalow, post up the info she requested.  Also start thinking about things you can sell to help pay off the debt.  What about a 2nd job?  Do you have a vehicle or anything else that can be used as a collateral so that maybe you can take out a loan and kill off all the card debt?  Sure, it will be costly but typically you make more headway with a real loan vs. cards, plus you have a final end date (term) to getting it paid off vs. making minimums and lasting 30+ years.

You can normally work with everyone, the key is making contact EARLY ON and explaining your situation.  Some will even be generous and waive some of the BS fees.  Contact them now before it gets worse!

[marty56]

A DMP program may be able to help you by eliminating OTL and late fees and lowering interest rates.  You have to be able to afford to make the monthly payments since the longest you can be in a DMP is 5 years.

Do not do debt settlement where they reduce the principal since that will trash your credit and possibly get you sued and the company may also rip you off. 

[Anonymous]

Had some unexpected home repairs coupled with an already tight budget, now I'm behind.

Here's what I'm looking @:

 Credit Card                       Limit         Balance            Payment:

HSBC DIRECT REWARDS 300           354                   15 late

Chase CC                          2500         2498                 50

Juniper                              2000         1990                 32

Citizens                             4000         3998                 78 late

Tractor Supply                    800           746                  23

Orchard                             1000          999                  30

Capital one                        500            488                  15

HSBC Yamaha                   5205         5004                 69

Best Buy (Chase)               500            457                  13

Circuit City                        300             250                  10

Target                               200             156                  10

Firestone                          1000           832                   33 late

Score was at about a 750 last year, bought my first house and moved in with absolutely nothing. I'm already working 2 jobs, I have 4 little kids plus my niece is now living with us. Income around 55K.

Message Edited by jdt0t on 07-15-2009 01:05 PM

[Anonymous]

Pay the smallest balances in full first, then stop using them, but don't cancel them. You can mitigate the damages.

[Anonymous]

Is your spouse working? Are you receiving any kind of help for supporting your niece, or is she old enough to be contributing?

First thing is to work out a budget. What is your mortgage payment? What other debts do you pay monthly on (i.e. car payment, student loans, etc.)? Look at the things you can't change first, such as your mortgage payment. Then start looking at where you can save. If you own a car, would it make sense to downgrade? Can you take some cash out this way, or at least decrease a monthly payment? Can you downgrade or stand to do without cable, internet, phone, cell phones for the time being?

As someone else mentioned, look around at the things you don't need and can sell on Craigslist for some fast cash. Examine what you're paying for groceries and utilities. Start conserving! Make sure you're buying the cheapest version of all the items you can find. Eat leftovers for lunch rather than buying.

Keep working with the credit counselor, or speak with the credit card companies yourself. Try to freeze or lower rates, and see what late fees can be reversed. Do what you have to to get current and keep current with the minimum payments til you get a handle on everything. If you're credit hasn't been shot yet, see if you can do a balance transfer to a new card with a lower interest rate.

[Anonymous]

My credit's not shot yet... but I sure can't get a loan, I tried. No house equity either. I'm stuck right now paying the over limit fees, causing me to be late on some cards etc. I'm not getting any support from anywhere, and all of our kids, niece included are under 10. The wife can't work, she won't make enough to pay for daycare. I don't mind paying the interest I agreed to, but right now I'm only falling further behind because of these fee's etc. I'm almost at the point of giving up.

[mattmil]

I was in a similar situation as yours 3 years ago -- I worked with consumer credit counseling to pay off all my bills.  That was 3 years ago and next month I will be completely debt free except for my student loans.  You can also use the snowball approach as advocated by Dave Ramsey -- like the poster described above -- pay down the small balances first then snowball what you were paying on the small balances into the next bigger balance and so on.  Soon you will have a much more manageable situation. 

 Another option if you are in dire straights is actually bankruptcy -- I know a lot of people would say that's crazy but I have a buddy that declared bankruptcy due to about 40k in CC debt about 4 years ago and today his credit is good - he was recently approved for a home loan and a car loan.  So even though you would have a bankruptcy on your record, you could recover in 4 years or so. 

Also, like the poster above mentioned -- start looking at what your assets are that you can sell to cover at least the minimum monthly payments on these cards.  If you can manage to hold on until you've got this under control, you will be so much better off in the long run credit wise. 

[Anonymous]

I'd hate to file ch 13, but I may have no other choice. I'm very over extended. No collections, yet. My monthly bills are simply more then what I'm bringing in. Thanks Mattmil.