Where to start? $11K in hole. Mid-700's to under 600

[Anonymous]

Where do I even begin? I got myself in somewhat of a hole here and I'm not sure on the best course of action to dig myself out.

3 years ago life happened. My girl got pregnant and we were expecting our first child. Not planning for a child at the time, there was a lot that needed to be done beforhand (house repairs and etc)....Long story story, money went out, and it went out fast. Before I knew it, savings was drained. That, of course, didn't stop the bills from rolling in or the added expenses that come with a child. In between being low on money and just forgetting with so much other stuff going on, bills weren't paid on time or at all, and I fell really behind.

Anyhow, here I am today. My credit use to be what I considered good, around the mid-to-upper 700's. I think I was even knocking on the door to 800. Since my troubles, I've dropped down to 598, which in my eyes is extremely horrible. I'm even ashmaed to give that score.

I have a 13 year credit history

My debt is as follows

$7,938 to Home Depot

$2,121 to Discover

$1,882 to a Debt Collector for charge-off filed by Capital One

At this moment in time, all accounts are caught up and there's no overdue payments.

I could use some insight as to what I should do and how I should attack this debt.

Thanks to family, I have enough, or nearly enough, to pay off all my debt right now and start fresh. That would however leave me with $0 in my savings for emergencies. Part of me says while it's wise to pay the debt off ASAP to avoid interest and such, another part of me tells me not to drain the account again. Given my current employment and the expenses of daycare and such, I have no more than $300 a month to put towards debt or into my savings. At $300 a month, it would take me years to pay all this debt off and it would cost me probably about 5 times as much. Do I pay half of it off and save the rest of the money and slowly pay it off, maybe adding a couple hundred extra to the $300 I can throw in every month, attempting to pay it off slowly while rebuilding my current and history as an timely customer? Should the debt owed to the Debt Collector be ignored for now since it's not gaining interest, or should it be paid ASAP since it's already in collection and I don't want it to go further? I paid the collector a few hundred dollars several months ago so I already admitted/claimed the debt.

I have a lot of questions and I'm just lost when it comes to all this. I see a lot of people on here with outstanding credit so just hoping I can get maybe some suggestions or something. I don't even know what I'm looking for to tell you the truth. I guess I'm in search of that magical "fix your credit overnight" handbook lolol

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Where do I even begin? I got myself in somewhat of a hole here and I'm not sure on the best course of action to dig myself out.

3 years ago life happened. My girl got pregnant and we were expecting our first child. Not planning for a child at the time, there was a lot that needed to be done beforhand (house repairs and etc)....Long story story, money went out, and it went out fast. Before I knew it, savings was drained. That, of course, didn't stop the bills from rolling in or the added expenses that come with a child. In between being low on money and just forgetting with so much other stuff going on, bills weren't paid on time or at all, and I fell really behind.

Anyhow, here I am today. My credit use to be what I considered good, around the mid-to-upper 700's. I think I was even knocking on the door to 800. Since my troubles, I've dropped down to 598, which in my eyes is extremely horrible. I'm even ashmaed to give that score.

I have a 13 year credit history

My debt is as follows

$7,938 to Home Depot

$2,121 to Discover

$1,882 to a Debt Collector for charge-off filed by Capital One

At this moment in time, all accounts are caught up and there's no overdue payments.

I could use some insight as to what I should do and how I should attack this debt.

Thanks to family, I have enough, or nearly enough, to pay off all my debt right now and start fresh. That would however leave me with $0 in my savings for emergencies. Part of me says while it's wise to pay the debt off ASAP to avoid interest and such, another part of me tells me not to drain the account again. Given my current employment and the expenses of daycare and such, I have no more than $300 a month to put towards debt or into my savings. At $300 a month, it would take me years to pay all this debt off and it would cost me probably about 5 times as much. Do I pay half of it off and save the rest of the money and slowly pay it off, maybe adding a couple hundred extra to the $300 I can throw in every month, attempting to pay it off slowly while rebuilding my current and history as an timely customer? Should the debt owed to the Debt Collector be ignored for now since it's not gaining interest, or should it be paid ASAP since it's already in collection and I don't want it to go further? I paid the collector a few hundred dollars several months ago so I already admitted/claimed the debt.

I have a lot of questions and I'm just lost when it comes to all this. I see a lot of people on here with outstanding credit so just hoping I can get maybe some suggestions or something. I don't even know what I'm looking for to tell you the truth. I guess I'm in search of that magical "fix your credit overnight" handbook lolol

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There really is no magic overnight quick fix - though some people *do* have great luck (getting PFDs and GW deletions) and so it often seems that there is.

What to do really depends on your own goals and priorities. I would, as priority number 1, stash $1k in savings for an emergency fund.

Is Cap One reporting a balance on the Charge Off?

What is the status of the other two debts?

What open, active credit card accounts do you have?

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Where do I even begin? I got myself in somewhat of a hole here and I'm not sure on the best course of action to dig myself out.

3 years ago life happened. My girl got pregnant and we were expecting our first child. Not planning for a child at the time, there was a lot that needed to be done beforhand (house repairs and etc)....Long story story, money went out, and it went out fast. Before I knew it, savings was drained. That, of course, didn't stop the bills from rolling in or the added expenses that come with a child. In between being low on money and just forgetting with so much other stuff going on, bills weren't paid on time or at all, and I fell really behind.

Anyhow, here I am today. My credit use to be what I considered good, around the mid-to-upper 700's. I think I was even knocking on the door to 800. Since my troubles, I've dropped down to 598, which in my eyes is extremely horrible. I'm even ashmaed to give that score.

I have a 13 year credit history

My debt is as follows

$7,938 to Home Depot

$2,121 to Discover

$1,882 to a Debt Collector for charge-off filed by Capital One

At this moment in time, all accounts are caught up and there's no overdue payments.

I could use some insight as to what I should do and how I should attack this debt.

Thanks to family, I have enough, or nearly enough, to pay off all my debt right now and start fresh. That would however leave me with $0 in my savings for emergencies. Part of me says while it's wise to pay the debt off ASAP to avoid interest and such, another part of me tells me not to drain the account again. Given my current employment and the expenses of daycare and such, I have no more than $300 a month to put towards debt or into my savings. At $300 a month, it would take me years to pay all this debt off and it would cost me probably about 5 times as much. Do I pay half of it off and save the rest of the money and slowly pay it off, maybe adding a couple hundred extra to the $300 I can throw in every month, attempting to pay it off slowly while rebuilding my current and history as an timely customer? Should the debt owed to the Debt Collector be ignored for now since it's not gaining interest, or should it be paid ASAP since it's already in collection and I don't want it to go further? I paid the collector a few hundred dollars several months ago so I already admitted/claimed the debt.

I have a lot of questions and I'm just lost when it comes to all this. I see a lot of people on here with outstanding credit so just hoping I can get maybe some suggestions or something. I don't even know what I'm looking for to tell you the truth. I guess I'm in search of that magical "fix your credit overnight" handbook lolol

---

There really is no magic overnight quick fix - though some people *do* have great luck (getting PFDs and GW deletions) and so it often seems that there is.

What to do really depends on your own goals and priorities. I would, as priority number 1, stash $1k in savings for an emergency fund.

Is Cap One reporting a balance on the Charge Off?

What is the status of the other two debts?

What open, active credit card accounts do you have?

---

Here's my accounts listed on my report.

Screenshot: http://imgur.com/FDmX97c

If you don't feel comfortable clicking that, I'll list them the best that I can.

Thd/Cbna (Home Depot) - $7,938 (Pays As Agreed - Negative Indicator - 1 month this year was 30 days past due)

Capital One Bank Usa - $419 (Pays Account As Agreed) (Lists me as an "authorized user" - Not really sure what this is)

Capital One Bank Usa - $1,882 (Charge-Off Status)

Discover Bank - $2,121 (Pays As Agreed - Negative Indicator - 30, 60, 90 and 120 day late marks, mostly in late 2014)

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Anonymous wrote:

Where do I even begin? I got myself in somewhat of a hole here and I'm not sure on the best course of action to dig myself out.

3 years ago life happened. My girl got pregnant and we were expecting our first child. Not planning for a child at the time, there was a lot that needed to be done beforhand (house repairs and etc)....Long story story, money went out, and it went out fast. Before I knew it, savings was drained. That, of course, didn't stop the bills from rolling in or the added expenses that come with a child. In between being low on money and just forgetting with so much other stuff going on, bills weren't paid on time or at all, and I fell really behind.

Anyhow, here I am today. My credit use to be what I considered good, around the mid-to-upper 700's. I think I was even knocking on the door to 800. Since my troubles, I've dropped down to 598, which in my eyes is extremely horrible. I'm even ashmaed to give that score.

I have a 13 year credit history

My debt is as follows

$7,938 to Home Depot

$2,121 to Discover

$1,882 to a Debt Collector for charge-off filed by Capital One

At this moment in time, all accounts are caught up and there's no overdue payments.

I could use some insight as to what I should do and how I should attack this debt.

Thanks to family, I have enough, or nearly enough, to pay off all my debt right now and start fresh. That would however leave me with $0 in my savings for emergencies. Part of me says while it's wise to pay the debt off ASAP to avoid interest and such, another part of me tells me not to drain the account again. Given my current employment and the expenses of daycare and such, I have no more than $300 a month to put towards debt or into my savings. At $300 a month, it would take me years to pay all this debt off and it would cost me probably about 5 times as much. Do I pay half of it off and save the rest of the money and slowly pay it off, maybe adding a couple hundred extra to the $300 I can throw in every month, attempting to pay it off slowly while rebuilding my current and history as an timely customer? Should the debt owed to the Debt Collector be ignored for now since it's not gaining interest, or should it be paid ASAP since it's already in collection and I don't want it to go further? I paid the collector a few hundred dollars several months ago so I already admitted/claimed the debt.

I have a lot of questions and I'm just lost when it comes to all this. I see a lot of people on here with outstanding credit so just hoping I can get maybe some suggestions or something. I don't even know what I'm looking for to tell you the truth. I guess I'm in search of that magical "fix your credit overnight" handbook lolol

---

There really is no magic overnight quick fix - though some people *do* have great luck (getting PFDs and GW deletions) and so it often seems that there is.

What to do really depends on your own goals and priorities. I would, as priority number 1, stash $1k in savings for an emergency fund.

Is Cap One reporting a balance on the Charge Off?

What is the status of the other two debts?

What open, active credit card accounts do you have?

---

Here's my accounts listed on my report.

Screenshot: http://imgur.com/FDmX97c

If you don't feel comfortable clicking that, I'll list them the best that I can.

Thd/Cbna (Home Depot) - $7,938 (Pays As Agreed - Negative Indicator - 1 month this year was 30 days past due)

Capital One Bank Usa - $419 (Pays Account As Agreed) (Lists me as an "authorized user" - Not really sure what this is) Spouses card maybe?

Capital One Bank Usa - $1,882 (Charge-Off Status)

Discover Bank - $2,121 (Pays As Agreed - Negative Indicator - 30, 60, 90 and 120 day late marks, mostly in late 2014)

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OK, it does look like the Cap One account is still showing a balance - that means they have NOT sold it to a collector, they have only "farmed" it out. I would definitely get that one paid - settle it for as little as you can if you want to save some dollars. 

Beyond that its really just a matter of how much you want to stash in savings vs how soon you want to pay it all off.

[Anonymous]

The other Capital One card surely isn't my spouses card since she wasn't around at the time, and I can't imagine I was added to my moms considering it says the account was opended a few months after I opened my own. Seems odd. Gonna have to make some calls about that.

In regards to improving my credit, would it help if I paid off any of these accounts monthly, like say the smallest one, Discover, to show that I can meet payments? After everything is paid off, I will rarely be using the accounts. The Home Depot account was only opended to put in new windows and the Discover debt is from other home imporvements. The Capital One debt is old, years old. I, for the most part, try to stick by a cash-only rule. If I can't pay for it in cash, I can't afford it. I hate debt. That's why my monthly allowance is so low.

Furthermore, how do you know the Capital One debt has been farmed out? I'm not even really sure what that means, but I have gotten letters from a debt collection agency about it and have even provided small payments to the agency towards the debt. When calling Capital One directly, I'm pretty much told there's no account information listed for me, I'm no longer wanted as a customer and that all debts have been placed in the hands of a collector, which happens to be First Source Advantage.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The other Capital One card surely isn't my spouses card since she wasn't around at the time, and I can't imagine I was added to my moms considering it says the account was opended a few months after I opened my own. Seems odd. Gonna have to make some calls about that. Weird... You can call the CRA's and tell them you want it removed from your reports as you are not responsible for an AU account. That will keep it from hurting your scores. Call cap one and complain that you have somehow been added to someones account as an AU without your knowledge or consent.

In regards to improving my credit, would it help if I paid off any of these accounts monthly, like say the smallest one, Discover, to show that I can meet payments? After everything is paid off, I will rarely be using the accounts. The Home Depot account was only opended to put in new windows and the Discover debt is from other home imporvements. The Capital One debt is old, years old. I, for the most part, try to stick by a cash-only rule. If I can't pay for it in cash, I can't afford it. I hate debt. That's why my monthly allowance is so low.

Furthermore, how do you know the Capital One debt has been farmed out? I'm not even really sure what that means, but I have gotten letters from a debt collection agency about it and have even provided small payments to the agency towards the debt. When calling Capital One directly, I'm pretty much told there's no account information listed for me, I'm no longer wanted as a customer and that all debts have been placed in the hands of a collector, which happens to be First Source Advantage.

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[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The other Capital One card surely isn't my spouses card since she wasn't around at the time, and I can't imagine I was added to my moms considering it says the account was opended a few months after I opened my own. Seems odd. Gonna have to make some calls about that.

In regards to improving my credit, would it help if I paid off any of these accounts monthly, like say the smallest one, Discover, to show that I can meet payments? After everything is paid off, I will rarely be using the accounts. The Home Depot account was only opended to put in new windows and the Discover debt is from other home imporvements. The Capital One debt is old, years old. I, for the most part, try to stick by a cash-only rule. If I can't pay for it in cash, I can't afford it. I hate debt. That's why my monthly allowance is so low.

Furthermore, how do you know the Capital One debt has been farmed out? I'm not even really sure what that means, but I have gotten letters from a debt collection agency about it and have even provided small payments to the agency towards the debt. When calling Capital One directly, I'm pretty much told there's no account information listed for me, I'm no longer wanted as a customer and that all debts have been placed in the hands of a collector, which happens to be First Source Advantage.

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That just means they have hired the CA to work the account, and they still own it. If its sold to a junk debt buyer, (like Midland) they will change the balance to $0.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The other Capital One card surely isn't my spouses card since she wasn't around at the time, and I can't imagine I was added to my moms considering it says the account was opended a few months after I opened my own. Seems odd. Gonna have to make some calls about that.

In regards to improving my credit, would it help if I paid off any of these accounts monthly, like say the smallest one, Discover, to show that I can meet payments? After everything is paid off, I will rarely be using the accounts. The Home Depot account was only opended to put in new windows and the Discover debt is from other home imporvements. The Capital One debt is old, years old. I, for the most part, try to stick by a cash-only rule. If I can't pay for it in cash, I can't afford it. I hate debt. That's why my monthly allowance is so low.

Furthermore, how do you know the Capital One debt has been farmed out? I'm not even really sure what that means, but I have gotten letters from a debt collection agency about it and have even provided small payments to the agency towards the debt. When calling Capital One directly, I'm pretty much told there's no account information listed for me, I'm no longer wanted as a customer and that all debts have been placed in the hands of a collector, which happens to be First Source Advantage.

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Open current accounts will contribute to your credit and payment history, whether they have balances or not. Personally, I would pay off Discover entirely, and cut the Home Depot balance in half, then put the rest of the money into savings and just pay down the one account as quickly as possible.

[Anonymous]

Thanks very much for your time and suggestions. It's truly apperciated.