HELP. i don't know what to do anymore..

[Anonymous]

Good evening. Brandon here, all the way down from Florida just getting through all of this hurricane mess!

Anyways, I'm here because I'm in some serious trouble. and i have no idea what to do anymore. Im a PE tech at an elementary school and I didn't work over the summer so iv been using a barclays visa card all summer and to put a small down payment on a new car i got. Well, my credit card is now maxed out at $3,700 and Idk what to do.. Iv been stressing out and my credit is about to take a plunge. 

My credit was at about 640-650 its recently gone down all the way to a 600 and another score tells me 585. On this credit card i have a no interest plan for 12 months when i bought something and now it has expired. my interest is like $75 a month because my balance is so high. Im getting $36 late fees and now its at $3,700 maxed out with a $0 balance.

WHAT do i do? I have no idea where to even start?!?!??!

Should I take out a student loan at school and pay it???

[redbeard]

I'm not clear on what you are asking.  You have a job, which I assume pays you.  Use your paycheck and pay the credit card bill.

Your score will go down as long as the card is maxed out (or close to maxed out).  It will come back up if you can pay off a chunk of it.  The score will go down and stay down if you let the account become 30 days late, don't let that happen.

Refinancing the debt might be an option if you can afford to do it.  Its not the intended use of a student loan though and can lead to more problems if you are not careful.

My recommendation is if you can't pay the bill on your current income is to find another part time job and use that money to get the debt under control.  Holiday season hiring is here, its a good time to pick up the extra cash.

Dan

[Anonymous]

I would suggest paying it down ASAP.

AA is iminant.

[StartingOver10]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Good evening. Brandon here, all the way down from Florida just getting through all of this hurricane mess!  Good thing Hurricane Matthew stayed off the coast enough so we really don't have any effects. I hope you are in S Fl where I am and not north Fl. 

Anyways, I'm here because I'm in some serious trouble. and i have no idea what to do anymore. Im a PE tech at an elementary school and I didn't work over the summer so iv been using a barclays visa card all summer and to put a small down payment on a new car i got. Well, my credit card is now maxed out at $3,700 and Idk what to do.. Iv been stressing out and my credit is about to take a plunge.  You can recover from this by paying down the debt. School starts here in Florida in early August so you should be receiving your paychecks to pay this debt down. Pay it down aggressively. See ideas below for paydown.

My credit was at about 640-650 its recently gone down all the way to a 600 and another score tells me 585. On this credit card i have a no interest plan for 12 months when i bought something and now it has expired. my interest is like $75 a month because my balance is so high. Im getting $36 late fees and now its at $3,700 maxed out with a $0 balance.  Stop paying late. There is no reason to pay late if you have internet access. Barclays website is easy to use. If you don't have the funds to pay, then you need to put together a written budget and stick to it.  QUESTION:  What do you mean that you are maxed out with a $0 balance.  Zero balance means you don't owe anything on the credit card. Maxed out means you owe 90% or more of the credit limit. 

WHAT do i do? I have no idea where to even start?!?!??!

Should I take out a student loan at school and pay it??? No, don't do this. Not only is it fraud, it is a terrible idea. 

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Ideas for you to recover:

• Get a second job 
• Sell items around the house on ebay or craigslist
• Do odd jobs for others - or Uber or anything to get extra cash
• Budget, budget, budget 
• @Stop spending on the small (and large) stuff - those daily coffee drinks @$5/drink add up to over $1800/year if you aren't careful.  There are probably lots of little holes in your budget that you might not notice until you go through your bank statements line by line 

If you come up with a plan, you can beat this. How long have you been working for the school system? Don't they have some thrift savings plan that you can get a hardship loan? 

[Anonymous]

Im sorry I meant I have $0 balance left. And Im a single father, I have a mortgage and high car payment. Im on my second year in the school system.. I am labeled as a PE tech, so i dont get the pay an actual teacher does. 

With all of my monthly bills, Im living pay check to pay check. Literally.

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Im sorry I meant I have $0 balance left. And Im a single father, I have a mortgage and high car payment. Im on my second year in the school system.. I am labeled as a PE tech, so i dont get the pay an actual teacher does. 

With all of my monthly bills, Im living pay check to pay check. Literally.

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What are you doing getting a new car when you're living paycheck to paycheck? As a single parent no less! You have (at least) a human being dependent on you for everything and you go and do something so irresponsible.

There is no easy fix for this. You dug yourself a hole and you're going to have to fill it. I'm not saying this to be an a-hole, but you have to tighten your belt. You won't have any discresisonary income for some time.

[CreditDunce]

It sounds to me like you need personal finance advice, not credit advice.   Adding another credit card is likely only to get you further in debt.  Not that you would be approved for another card with a 0% intro rate.  This board is a good board to come back to once you have a workable budget.   The board can help you rebuild your credit when you are ready.

To dig out of the hole, you may want to consider selling stuff (car, furniture, electronics, tv, etc).  Cutting expenses (I know not easy to do).  And adding more income (second job, side gig, uber, craigs list, etc).  Every bit can help.  At least next summer you will know you need a summer job.  Sorry wish I had better advice.

[StartingOver10]

One more idea:  Sell the car and get a beater for $2k. You won't be able to do Uber with a beater, but it will get rid of a large payment. 

Or you could sell your house and use the equity to pay off all of your debt until you get on your feet.

The alternative to both of the above is to budget well - use one of the online services like YNAB.  Look up Dave Ramsey and learn the beans and rice way to getting on your feet. It is impossible to get through tough times without having a written budget. Use excel spreadsheets for every penny. Once you track your spending you will be amazed at what you can cut and not have it hurt.

You may need a roommate to get through the immediate budget constraints, especially if you decide not to sell your home or your vehicle. 

You can do this. It just takes a bit of creative thinking and sacrificing the luxury's you have become accustomed to (assumption based on your car purchase with a high payment). 

[StartingOver10]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Im sorry I meant I have $0 balance left. And Im a single father, I have a mortgage and high car payment. Im on my second year in the school system.. I am labeled as a PE tech, so i dont get the pay an actual teacher does. 

With all of my monthly bills, Im living pay check to pay check. Literally.

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^^^Another idea:  are you getting a large tax refund from Uncle Sam every year?  If so, go back into HR and change your deductions. You can't afford to give the tax man free money all year.  Have HR figure out for you the appropriate amount of deductions so that you pay the right amount to Uncle Sam and no more and no less than you need.  If you are getting a refund of $5000 (for example), then you are paying $500 per month too much (assuming a 10 month year like you stated in your first post). Better for you to get those funds monthly so you can pay down your debt.