Is there any way out of this hole?

[Anonymous]

I would follow tydawg's advice . I'm in a similar situation and my credit union is working with me now to get some of my cc debt paid. They're going to send funds directly to creditors and not count those in my DTI. Good luck!!

[Sbrooks1]

I think that you need to stop spending any extras at this point, all of your cards are basically maxed out. If increasing income as you said is not an option, I would start paying from lowest balance to highest, wh n one is paid off add that Amt to the next one. There is no easy fix and with UTI at near 95% it may be hard to get a loan . You can do it!! Buckle down

[stargazer25]

I needed a loan and I went through my credit union with  baddies on my credit report and I refinanced my car with 2.99% interest rate.  My CU offered a 15% interest rate on a non collateral loan. The good thing with a CU is that they manually underwrite. I belong to San Diego County Credit Union and had great luck with them. I don't know what exactly they require but a credit union either way is a better option for you my CC rate is only 15%. 

[Anonymous]

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@clumsymoon wrote:

Long story short, I have loads of credit card debt for various reasons. I have been working for about a year and a half to pay this down, and I feel like I've hardly made a dent. Currently, my credit card debt alone is $25,926 with an average interest rate of 26% across 12 cards. I have essentially stopped using the cards except for the occasional tank of gas at the end of the month. I am just getting so overwhelmed because I can only pay the minimums right now (which ends up being $1021 a month) and my balances on most cards with added interest end up going down like $20 or less at a time. Two of the cards were joints with my ex husband and those are closed but I'm still paying the balance.

I have tried applying for low interest or no interest/no balance transfer fee cards and I cannot get approved. I've also tried to get a debt consolidation type loan from my bank and they said I won't even be considered until my score is at least 680 (with no guarantees of being approved). My credit score has been sitting at 670 to just under 680 for the past year or so. I do have $84k in consolidated student loans that I pay on through IBR and am on the PSLF plan but only one year in. No lates or baddies on my collection report but the debt is killing my score and I see no way out.  If I could just combine my debt and pay the $1000 a month in payments it would go so much faster but I can't find a way to make it work.

Should I just keep paying the outrageous interest and continue on this plan for the next 15 years until I finally pay it off? Are there any other alternatives? Need to know there is light at the end of the tunnel. I paid off my car in September (yay!) and then was hit with $1200 in medical bills later that same month (not yay). I just got a good paying job two years ago and I get a raise pretty much every year so I definitely want to stay with my current employer. I don't think I could increase my income anyways. Thanks in advance.

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Wow - I feel like I'm looking into a time mirror showing my own situation a year ago.  No lates, collections, or black marks of any kind on my report but drowning in debt with no lenders willing to throw me a lifeline.  Hoping and praying that when my latest 0% BT runs out I'll be able to find another, my bank account a constant revolving door every paycheck, not being able to save anything...  Finally, I had enough.

In January, I took a deep breath and filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  And while I still have the student loans on REPAYE ($75k in my case), everything else is GONE, and as I sit 6 months post-discharge (as of 10/27), my FICO's are back up to 665 - 675, and between DW and myself we have just over $9k in available credit.

I'm not saying you should choose the nuclear option by any means, but I have to play devil's advocate and at least point out that when considering all options to get out of debt, be sure to consider ALL options to get out of debt.  The best financial decision I ever made was finding a reputable bankruptcy attorney and sitting down for my free consultation.  Your mileage may vary.

Whatever you choose - know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that you have found a community that will offer advice and support WHATEVER path you end up taking.

Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@clumsymoon wrote:

Long story short, I have loads of credit card debt for various reasons. I have been working for about a year and a half to pay this down, and I feel like I've hardly made a dent. Currently, my credit card debt alone is $25,926 with an average interest rate of 26% across 12 cards. I have essentially stopped using the cards except for the occasional tank of gas at the end of the month. I am just getting so overwhelmed because I can only pay the minimums right now (which ends up being $1021 a month) and my balances on most cards with added interest end up going down like $20 or less at a time. Two of the cards were joints with my ex husband and those are closed but I'm still paying the balance.

I have tried applying for low interest or no interest/no balance transfer fee cards and I cannot get approved. I've also tried to get a debt consolidation type loan from my bank and they said I won't even be considered until my score is at least 680 (with no guarantees of being approved). My credit score has been sitting at 670 to just under 680 for the past year or so. I do have $84k in consolidated student loans that I pay on through IBR and am on the PSLF plan but only one year in. No lates or baddies on my collection report but the debt is killing my score and I see no way out.  If I could just combine my debt and pay the $1000 a month in payments it would go so much faster but I can't find a way to make it work.

Should I just keep paying the outrageous interest and continue on this plan for the next 15 years until I finally pay it off? Are there any other alternatives? Need to know there is light at the end of the tunnel. I paid off my car in September (yay!) and then was hit with $1200 in medical bills later that same month (not yay). I just got a good paying job two years ago and I get a raise pretty much every year so I definitely want to stay with my current employer. I don't think I could increase my income anyways. Thanks in advance.

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Wow - I feel like I'm looking into a time mirror showing my own situation a year ago.  No lates, collections, or black marks of any kind on my report but drowning in debt with no lenders willing to throw me a lifeline.  Hoping and praying that when my latest 0% BT runs out I'll be able to find another, my bank account a constant revolving door every paycheck, not being able to save anything...  Finally, I had enough.

In January, I took a deep breath and filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy.  And while I still have the student loans on REPAYE ($75k in my case), everything else is GONE, and as I sit 6 months post-discharge (as of 10/27), my FICO's are back up to 665 - 675, and between DW and myself we have just over $9k in available credit.

I'm not saying you should choose the nuclear option by any means, but I have to play devil's advocate and at least point out that when considering all options to get out of debt, be sure to consider ALL options to get out of debt.  The best financial decision I ever made was finding a reputable bankruptcy attorney and sitting down for my free consultation.  Your mileage may vary.

Whatever you choose - know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and that you have found a community that will offer advice and support WHATEVER path you end up taking.

Good Luck!

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I have just come to that decision myself after an old $10K medical debt from 2010 surfaced and resulted in a judgement, pushing me underwater to the tune of $150 a month - for services that should have been covered under charity care at the time. My budget is already pretty lean, I simply refuse to live like a pauper to satisfy these greedy collectors.

[lamplight2012]

I was in a similar situation as you. Except the balance was a little lower. What I did was the debt snowball. Start with the smallest debt, and work your way up. Once you get the first two or 3 knocked out you'll have a pretty big shovel. All props go to Dave Ramsey though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZP9aflH7MY

[clumsymoon]

No cards from capital one, the only major cards I have are the UsBank Visa and the Citicard Visa. I considered opening A secured card (looked at the Discover It card) and just not using it thinking it might help once it graduates.

On negotiating the first threcloswd cards, I was under the impression that any kind of settlement for less than the balance would look bad on my CR.

I currently don't have much more than the minimum (maybe $50 a month extra) and I was going to try the snowball method to pay stuff off. Might get some tax return $$ in the spring which would help. Just seeems like such a long process. When I paid off my car I thought my score would jump at least a little from having the debt paid off but it didn't budge. I really want to pay things off honestly but it's discouraging when my interest rates are so high.

[clumsymoon]

Thanks all for your insight. I guess more than anything I want to know that I will eventually get this stuff paid off. I recently moved in with my parents to eliminate some of my month to month costs and I really want to get out of debt!

[Anonymous]

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@clumsymoon wrote:
No cards from capital one, the only major cards I have are the UsBank Visa and the Citicard Visa. I considered opening A secured card (looked at the Discover It card) and just not using it thinking it might help once it graduates.

On negotiating the first threcloswd cards, I was under the impression that any kind of settlement for less than the balance would look bad on my CR.

I currently don't have much more than the minimum (maybe $50 a month extra) and I was going to try the snowball method to pay stuff off. Might get some tax return $$ in the spring which would help. Just seeems like such a long process. When I paid off my car I thought my score would jump at least a little from having the debt paid off but it didn't budge. I really want to pay things off honestly but it's discouraging when my interest rates are so high.

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The QS Visa has a 0% interest period (either 9 or 12 months). App and if approved you may get a 3K starting limit or better. Balance transfer some of the higher interest balances and that will jumpstart the process a bit. Concentrate on reducing the highest interest/lowest balances first. Cut up the cards NOW so they will not get re-used as they get paid down.