I'd like to add that it may be time to dig deep on this one. $450 sucks I know, however for example if you could come up with $650 a month towards Cc bills, you could knock that lowest balance (which luckily is your highest interest rate) to zero in about a year and a half. Then you've got $650 to devote to the minimum payment on the next plus even more principal, and it will all go away in short order.
@SouthJamaica mentioned the debt snowball. Instead of concentrating on reasons it won't work, perhaps take a step back and see if you can at least start it up, even at a smaller level. Dave Ramsey has some great YouTube vids on this. In addition, if your financial inflow changes in 6 months, you'll be able to speed it up. Maybe cancel cable, get a more reasonable cell phone plan, sell stuff,, eat a menu of rice and beans... obviously the how is up to you, however you'd be surprised at what you can find in your budget. I understand "wanting" at times to throw in the towel, but you may very well be able to do this!
@Anonymous wrote:Sure.
$4500 at 20% is MasterCard through CitiBank
$6500 at 10% is Visa through a Credit Union
$9000 at 12% is MasterCard through a Credit Union
Try again. Need to see the util %. Are they maxed out or close to that point. It helps with a plan.
CitiBank/Whats the Credit Line?/4500/20%APR
"I know I will eventually default on this amount and paying the minimum with interest is unsustainable as well... it's getting to the point where I'm trying to prepare for a default since paying all of this back isn't feasible for me... At this moment, the methods you mentioned aren't feasible for me. 6 months from now could be a very different story but for now I can't contribute to paying off these debts."
is this because of lowered/loss of income? if that is the case then you have to do what you have to do, but I would hire a proper bankruptcy attorney before I would pay a fee to any other agency.
"The issue is I end up getting charge over $200+ in interest a month and thus continuing to pay the minimum payments seems to be just throwing money down the drain."
or is it because you just don't see the practicality of paying off the debts because of the interest? as others have said, the blended interest rate for your accounts is ~13%. you say you're already paying $450 per month with just the minimums. with that fixed payment schedule you're looking at 6ish year payoff. bankruptcy follows you for what, 7-10 years? if you could even bump that up to $650 per month by means of budgeting or additional income you're only looking at a 3ish year payoff.
| 20 | 4500 | 12 | 9000 | 10 | 6500 | |
| month | pmt | balance | pmt | balance | pmt | balance |
| 1 | -200 | 4375 | -250 | 8840 | -200 | 6354 |
| 2 | -200 | 4248 | -250 | 8678 | -200 | 6207 |
| 3 | -200 | 4119 | -250 | 8515 | -200 | 6059 |
| 4 | -200 | 3987 | -250 | 8350 | -200 | 5909 |
| 5 | -200 | 3854 | -250 | 8184 | -200 | 5759 |
| 6 | -200 | 3718 | -250 | 8016 | -200 | 5607 |
| 7 | -200 | 3580 | -250 | 7846 | -200 | 5453 |
| 8 | -200 | 3440 | -250 | 7674 | -200 | 5299 |
| 9 | -200 | 3297 | -250 | 7501 | -200 | 5143 |
| 10 | -200 | 3152 | -250 | 7326 | -200 | 4986 |
| 11 | -200 | 3004 | -250 | 7149 | -200 | 4827 |
| 12 | -200 | 2855 | -250 | 6971 | -200 | 4668 |
| 13 | -200 | 2702 | -250 | 6791 | -200 | 4506 |
| 14 | -200 | 2547 | -250 | 6608 | -200 | 4344 |
| 15 | -200 | 2390 | -250 | 6424 | -200 | 4180 |
| 16 | -200 | 2229 | -250 | 6239 | -200 | 4015 |
| 17 | -200 | 2067 | -250 | 6051 | -200 | 3848 |
| 18 | -200 | 1901 | -250 | 5862 | -200 | 3681 |
| 19 | -200 | 1733 | -250 | 5670 | -200 | 3511 |
| 20 | -200 | 1562 | -250 | 5477 | -200 | 3340 |
| 21 | -200 | 1388 | -250 | 5282 | -200 | 3168 |
| 22 | -200 | 1211 | -250 | 5085 | -200 | 2995 |
| 23 | -200 | 1031 | -250 | 4885 | -200 | 2820 |
| 24 | -200 | 848 | -250 | 4684 | -200 | 2643 |
| 25 | -200 | 662 | -250 | 4481 | -200 | 2465 |
| 26 | -200 | 473 | -250 | 4276 | -200 | 2286 |
| 27 | -200 | 281 | -250 | 4069 | -200 | 2105 |
| 28 | -200 | 86 | -250 | 3859 | -200 | 1922 |
| 29 | -87 | 0 | -250 | 3648 | -200 | 1738 |
| 30 | -450 | 3234 | -200 | 1553 | ||
| 31 | -450 | 2817 | -200 | 1366 | ||
| 32 | -450 | 2395 | -200 | 1177 | ||
| 33 | -450 | 1969 | -200 | 987 | ||
| 34 | -450 | 1539 | -200 | 795 | ||
| 35 | -450 | 1104 | -200 | 602 | ||
| 36 | -450 | 665 | -200 | 407 | ||
| 37 | -450 | 222 | -200 | 210 | ||
| 38 | -224 | 0 | -212 | 0 |
at the end of 2018, with a blended interest rate of 18% I was at 30k revolving debt of 36k available. my score was in the low 700s with no derogatories. I acquired a personal loan at about 11% for 36 months. I spent 2019 making over the required payments on the loan. during those 12 months I was able to grow the credit limits on all my cards. in the beginning of 2020 I was able to take advantage of a 0% promo on one my cards and payoff the loan by moving the remaining balance. total interest and fees paid was about $2300. if I had gone with the snowball method I easily would have paid 2-3x that in interest.
point is, maybe there is somewhere feasible in between the bankruptcy cliff and paying a mountain of interest in getting out of debt.
