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@farmgirl wrote:My mortgage loan modification went through. Yea! I also have some income coming in but still not able to completely return to work. My question is.....while I was waiting to see what the mortgage company would approve my loan/credit cards were charged off or collections. I'm not really sure what stage they are at. I received a phone call from one company saying they were going to sue then a week later they said it was ready to charge off did I want to pay.
What should my first step be? Besides getting my budget together to see what I can pay.
Thanks for your help
Hey farmgirl -
Glad to hear the mortgage mod went through.
However, before we get too far ahead of ourselves on the CC's, you need to publish some income data. If you can't afford to pay them then any advice to save anything is premature.
After mortgage (payment, taxes, insurance), plus car (payment, gas, insurance, maint), plus basic food, electric, phone, etc. how much money do you have left over consistently each month?
Is there anything you can cut or budget?
Once we know what your financial resources are, then compare that to your CC balances & condition, it will be possible to make some suggestions. But if you don't have anything left over, then all the advice in the world on what would help your credit or fico is moot, right? 
Have you established a written budget?
If no, please sit down and create one. This is just a spreadsheet with all of your current income and then current expenses (this means everything, including those small purchases for movie rentals etc.) You need to know where your money has been going in order to decide how to strategically prioritize your money and expenditures.