topic Re: Sticky mess I am in in General Credit Topics

Sticky mess I am in

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:08:46 GMT

So as you know I was on here over a year ago regarding trying to get financed for a car. I have a car now but a relative bought it for me and I pay him monthly payments as it was a 3k car. But I did start getting approved for other things......major credit cards. I have credit for Capital One, US Bank(Academy Sports rewards visa which can be used anywhere visa is accepted), and A BP gas card.

The first two credit cards came in February and March. Since then, however I have accumulated massive dept and have nearly used up all of my limits. Now I sit in a situation where I owe so much debt and will likely have trouble qualifying for other things because of it. It has brought my score below 600 after my score got in the 640-50 range back in April. I am also over $100 in debt on commenity credit with three stores because I had to buy school clothes. I just got done paying off one of them only to put more on there.

What are my options with credit repair? I am not behind on payments, but have so much to pay back and I think I may need to close one of the credit accounts to help my score because I am looking to seek additional loans or credits(like Stafford or another credit card which I feel my score and debt is keeping me from getting).

Re: Sticky mess I am in

CreditCuriosity — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:21:30 GMT

Simple cut up the cards since it appears you can't handle credit and pay off your balances. Once this is done you can possibly revist your situation with credit. Not sure what you are expecting to hear from posters? If you need to pick up another job depending on how much debt you have got yourself into that is an option. If you need to cancel or downgrade cable/cell service and not eat out as much anymore to pay off the debts then certainly do that. Others will have more to add I am sure.

edit: re-read poritions as you have no late payments you are fine. The last thing you need is more credit other than possibly your student loans. As stated cut up your current cards pay off the debt and live off cash for awhile until you can use credit without getting yourself in trouble.

Re: Sticky mess I am in

Gidgetmom — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:38:54 GMT

Stop using the cards and focus on paying down your debt. You will have to readjust your needs/wants list. There are things in your budget that you are paying for that you don't NEED.nMake a budget and stick to it. As you pay down the debt, your scores will slowly increase. Since I don't know your profile, I can't guess what kind of increase you would get.

Ive been where you are and can tell you from experience....it can be done. It depends how badly you want it and what you're willing to sacrifice to get it.

I believe you are correct that you will not be able to get additional or better credit in your current credit state. I would not app for anything until my scores rebounded to at least 700's. Once your score is in the 700's, you could look at personal loans to pay off the cards for less interest and a fixed monthly payment. While you might be able to get additional credit now, it will cost you more in score points and interest than had you just buckled down and paid down what you have now.

You can research the "snowball" and "avalanche" methods for paying down your debt. Pick one card and start there. Make minimum payments on the other cards and focus your extra money to the one card. You can choose which card by smallest balance or by highest interest.

I wish you the the best of luck! Keep us posted on your journey!

Re: Sticky mess I am in

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:36:32 GMT

I never intentionally used up and it was not all my doing. I ended up letting my mother use my card for things and I had to pay my insurance one time with the credit card. That's why I am in debt. It would have never gotten this bad of not for those situations. I also started going to the gym and needed to eat more. And I didn't intentionally eat out, I could not always eat home-cooked meals. I had no choice.

So you're saying there is no credit repair that can help lower the score and remove some of this from my credit profile?

Re: Sticky mess I am in

CreditCuriosity — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:42:22 GMT

No no credit repair as you aren't late on your payments and you OWE the lenders the money. You also can live without you gym membership as well that can be applied to paying off the credit and your mother that used some of the credit she should help pay back her share as well if possible. Doesn't sound like you are in the bad of situation, just looking for possibly an easy way out of what you owe? How much do you owe in CC debt anyways and what if you don't mind sharing do you make monthly?

You are also in a good situation if you have no late payments. If you end up with late payments or CO's then you can look forward to 7 years of hell credit. It just isn't worth it take it from many on this forum that have been in simiiliar situations as yourself

Re: Sticky mess I am in

AverageJoesCredit — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:44:26 GMT

Sorry to hear of your situation. Some solid advise so far. Id recommend spending time in the how to rebuild your credit subforum as for sure youll get better advise as many are going through situations of debt that you find yourself in. I wish you the best. My advice would be to just attack card for card and as you elimate one card, you take care of the next. I believe thats the snowball affect. For sure everyones situation is different, but if you take it day to day youll eventually find greener grass on the other side

Re: Sticky mess I am in

Gidgetmom — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:48:42 GMT

There is no magic bullet. Just hard work, paying it back, and time. If your mother charged on your cards, can you ask her for the money to pay her charges at least? If not, it's a hard lesson you had to learn about letting other people use your accounts. The responsibility stops with you.

It's not going to be easy or fun, but if you want good credit, you have to pay back what you owe. Simple as that.

There are are so many posts here about how to improve your credit. Study them. If it's important to you, you will find a way.

Re: Sticky mess I am in

happypill — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:50:30 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I never intentionally used up and it was not all my doing. I ended up letting my mother use my card for things and I had to pay my insurance one time with the credit card. That's why I am in debt. It would have never gotten this bad of not for those situations. I also started going to the gym and needed to eat more. And I didn't intentionally eat out, I could not always eat home-cooked meals. I had no choice.

So you're saying there is no credit repair that can help lower the score and remove some of this from my credit profile?

Feels like you're not yet ready to face reality. The solution to your problem is to stop spending money and direct whatever resources you have to paying down your debt.

You may not think you "intentionally" ran up your limits, but the cards were in your hands. You used your card to pay your insurance (car insurance?) - if you didn't have a credit card how would you have paid for your insurance? If the answer is you wouldn't have had the money then you can't actually afford your car.

You used card to eat out more, but not "intentionally"? No, you made the decision to bulk up I guess, and you made the decision to eat out. These are intentional choices that you couldn't afford.

You gave your card to your mom. Well, that's nice of you, who was supposed to pay those bills? Was she supposed to pay you back? If not, then you made a gift to your mom. That's great, and now you need to pay for the gift that you gave. If it wasn't a gift, then get her to pay you back.

So, you're asking about credit repair but what you actually mean is will any of the lenders forgive the charges that you made, and still allow you keep your credit in good standing. They would be crazy to do so because based on what you've said, you're not ready to take responsibility for your cards. From a lender's perspective, they want to make sure they (and their peers) know about people who max out their cards witihin a few months and stop paying and they do so by reporting to credit bureaus.

Re: Sticky mess I am in

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:52:56 GMT

It sounds like you're making excuses for poor decisions that you've made. If you let someone else use your card then it's still your responsibility and if you've chosen to use it for things that you otherwise couldn't have afforded or out of convenience then that's also your responsibility as well. If you can't admit your fault then you'll never fix the problems that got you into this position to begin with and even if you pay everything off you'll just rack up more debt and have more issues in the future.

With that being said, you can close your accounts but it's not going to do anything positive for you in any way because you're still liable for the debt. If you can't control yourself then just cut up your cards and throw them away and continue to pay down/off your balances. Once you get them paid down your score will recover on its own. Likewise, credit repair isn't for people that don't have credit that needs repairing.

Buckle down and pay your debts and then get back on with your life.

Re: Sticky mess I am in

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:55:52 GMT

I am not quitting my gym membership. That is way too important for me. I am between 2k to 3k in what my overall balances are.

Re: Sticky mess I am in

Kree — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 00:56:40 GMT

Utilization is 35% of your score. paying down your debt will fix your score. It is the only non-longterm damage. 1 reporting cycle and all your lost points are back.

Re: Sticky mess I am in

Gidgetmom — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 01:01:29 GMT

Please know that no one is trying to be mean here. You asked us for advice and we are all giving you the best advice we have. We know it's a tough situation. How you get out of it is what matters in the long run. No one on this forum will advise you of an easy way out because there isn't one. Simple as that.

we can help you formulate a plan. As AJC mentioned, the rebuilder forum is where I began my journey 2 years ago. I went from scores in the 500's to scores ranging from 738 to 767. Simply by following what I learned here. Many have been through this and you will get through it too.

Re: Sticky mess I am in

kilroy8 — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 01:03:41 GMT

You must live within your means. We all want things - but if we can't afford them, then we don't get them. You have lived beyond your means, and it has caught up with you a bit. Those amounts are not large and any sort of job should be able to bring it under control. You have to stop adding to the debt and work to pay it off instead. Once that is done, save for the things you want and don't get them until you can pay for them.

Re: Sticky mess I am in

CreditCuriosity — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 01:03:54 GMT

2-3k is not much debt at all.. Just stop spending on your CC and pay them off whether it takes 3 months or 3 years. You owe the money it is that simple.. Even if you take a part time job doing say pizzza delivery or Uber on the side you would have that debt paid off in 6 months max by a bit of extra work.

Re: Sticky mess I am in

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 01:36:12 GMT

Cut up all your cards, and start paying them down from highest APR to lowest. Seek credit counseling or I'd even recommend professional counseling to help you figure out how your minimizing the real financial problem here. Like others have suggested gym memberships, Starbucks l, etc need to be cut out....YOU CAN'T AFFORD IT! you can still work out without a gym, and live without the other unneeded expenses. You come off as defensive with others on here, so take my advice however you wish. Good luck!

Re: Sticky mess I am in

ls2016 — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 02:05:45 GMT

Talk with your creditors to let them know that you're struggling and see if there are any alternative payment plans available that could possibly cut your minimum monthly payments in half. Not sure if this is an option, but you can surely give it a try. Last year, I set a goal to pay off my car 2 years ahead of schedule by doubling my payments. In order to do that, I disconnected my cable, cut my utility bill in half by turning off every light switch that was not needed and limited the HVAC system to extreme weather conditions only, canceled my post -paid Verizon account and now have pre-paid, increased my car insurance deductibles, stopped paying my mother's cell phone bill, and started making my 20-year -old pay her own cell bill and a portion of her car insurance. These sacrifices have freed up on average $500 per month, which I'm on target to meet my goal. You have to make some hard decisions if it's important for you to clear up the debt. You can do it! Best wishes!

Re: Sticky mess I am in

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 02:24:36 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:
I am not quitting my gym membership. That is way too important for me. I am between 2k to 3k in what my overall balances are.

And therein lies your problem.You're not willing to sacrifice.

Your gym is not important. NOBODY needs a gym membership. You can do pushups at home. Sit-ups. go for a jog. Buy a bike. Hell you blame part of your debt on car insurance? Sell the car, pay off your debt.

If 2-3K in debt is overwhelming you, you really don't need credit.

Re: Sticky mess I am in

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 02:24:53 GMT

Be grateful that you are learning this lesson now while you're still young and only a few thousand in debt. I, too, was once young and (sorry) clueless, and I'm still paying back that debt (I'm now in my 40's). Live and learn, as they say.

What you need to do is stop using the cards. At all. Period. Cut them up and throw them away. You'll still have to pay them off, but at least you won't continue adding to the debt.

I assume you have a job? See if you can get another one, or one that pays better. Figure out a side job to bring in extra cash. Drive for Uber or Lyft. Sell anything you have of value on eBay or Craigslist.

Cut out any and all unnecessary expenses. If you think $3k is a "massive amount of debt" then you have no business with a gym membership and eating out at restaurants more than on the very rare occasion. Stop living beyond your means. Figure out what you absolutely must have to survive (food, shelter, transportation, etc.) and build a budget around that.

Do not spend money you do not have. And pay back the money you owe.

Once you catch onto this, you'll be on your way.

Sorry if this is harsh, but I hope you see it for how it is intended, as a well-meaning wake-up call.

Good luck to you.

Re: Sticky mess I am in

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 02:38:30 GMT

I think you guys are gettin trolled.

Re: Sticky mess I am in

Anonymous — Mon, 23 Oct 2017 04:12:19 GMT

My gym membership is only $27 a month.