On the verge of BK

[Melanie220]

I started my credit repair journey in Dec of 2012. Cleared my reports of every negative item, decent score, lots of credit cards and slowly but surely dug myself a deep hole in debt.
As of now I feel the only way out is bankruptcy. I have 11K in credit card debt, 25K auto loan, 4K personal loan, rent, utilities, and 3 children. I'm stretched so thin that I can't see daylight. I literally live check to check to stay on top of my debt, but it's just become too much to handle.

I've never had a late payment in the last four years but my scope is in the low 6's from the UTI
And to top it all off a judgement from 2010 popped on my CR on 2/3/16 so I'm almost at that why keep fighting feeling. I need some guidance, don't know what to do...stressed

[Shooting-For-800]

How much is your total debt?

How much are your current assets?

How much do you make?

$11k does not seem like a lot to many but it does depend on your income.

You can negotiate your settlements to pay much less.

I paid as little as 25% of some of my credit cards to settle with them.

How much is your car worth (trade in value - KBB)?

Would $200 or $300 less per month in bills dramatically help you?  If so, work out a deal.

CC will lower your interest rate and payments if you show them a reason to.  They will close the account also.

BK will be on your record for 7-10 years and cost you $1000-$2000 to do.

FTR - I ended up having to complete a Ch7 and did it all myself without an attorney but I had over $100,000 of debt.  

[Melanie220]

How do I begin to negotiate settlements. I haven't defaulted or am not late on anything, I just feel stretched too thin. My current income is roughly $2500 monthly and my cc and other debts take about $2000 of that.
On top of my regular utilities.
I just need a breather, to get caught up on a few of my cc and maybe I can pull myself out of the hole without resorting to bankruptcy.
Rolled old loan into car so I took a hit, just now breaking even on that.

[Melanie220]

And yes 2-300 would help me drastically

[Shooting-For-800]

If you are considering BK then you know your credit will be destroyed for a while, some things will be affected more than others.

If it were me, I would call the banks.  All of them.  Ask for a interest rate reduction.  Do not say anything about your situation.

If none of them give it to you.  Call again.  

If no help, Call again and explain that you can not pay all your bills.  You want to find out what programs they have to help you.

Some will reduce payments, some will reduce APR, some will give you 90 days with no payments, some will tell you too bad.

At that point you have to decide if your situation is going to improve or not.

If not, keep the card with the most room on it or the lowest APR or treated you the best and quit paying the others.

Your credit will take a hit - a big one.

Type up a letter telling them not to call you on any phone as required by law.  All corospondence needs to be in writing.

And ignore them.  Pay the minimum on the card you kept.  Pay your other bills.  Save some cash.

6 months later, contact your CC and see who wants to drop your APR to zero and reduce your payments to pay off in 36 months. '

Try to deal with the CC company not a collection agent.

If you can't get anywhere and your income is not dramatically better, then look at BK.

I am not an advisor.  Just been threw a lot myself.

If your APRs are over 20% and you can squeek out the min balance right now, a 0% or 5% APR with a smaller min monthly payment will make a big difference.

[Anonymous]

Just know if you call your creditors asking for assistance, there is a good possibility of the creditor closing your account, and or lower your credit line.