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.
Starting Score: 641
The ones that have balances:
Firestone (closed): Balance=$726 22.8% $30 min
Citi Forward (closed): Balance=$2897.40 28.99% $86 min
USBank Reserves (closed): Balance=$432.26 21.9% $35 min
Open cards:
Citi Preferred: Balance=1996.50 Limit=$2000 25.99% $62 min
Car Care One: Balance=$852 Limit=$2500 29.99% $42 min
Care Credit: Balance=$2683 Limit=$4000 26.99% $87 min
Rooms to Go: Balance=$509 Limit=$4000 0% until June 2019 $20 min
USBank: Balance=$4795.42 Limit=$5000 23% $175 min
Amazon: Balance: $817.37 Limit $900 26.24% $53 min
Target: Balance:$297 Limit $400 23.15% $25 min
Old Navy Visa: Balance:$4865 Limit:$4900 26% $193 min
JCPenney: Balance: 5053.72 Limit:$5200 26.99% $213 min
I did look into Avant and Lending Club. I got the "we are unable to provide you with a loan" message from both.
I've attempted to get the chase cards every year. The rejection is always debt related. I also think I have too many inquiries for a chase card which will take awhile to wait out.