Debt Relief Program My Only Option?

[Clancaster23]

I'm a truck driver working for the same company for about seven years now.  It's a local home every night position but I'm paid by the mile so basically the more I drive, the better the pay is.  A few years ago I had a pretty good mileage run but lost it when the company decided to rebid the runs and I'm pretty low in the seniority list so my run was taken by someone else and I was forced to taking a lower paying run.  I was able to adjust my finances to what my lower pay checks were.  A year after that, they again rebid the runs and I was once again forced to take an even lower paying run.  This is the position I'm at now.  I can barely afford to keep all my cards/loans paid but am doing it without missing any payments.  I got word a couple weeks ago that once the first of the year comes, my run is going to be reduced even further but they are going to try to make up for it in other ways.  I  have been there long enough to know that that may not be possible although they say otherwise.  All said, I don't want to leave there due to the time I've been there and benefits.  Along with that, it still pays as good or better than if I went somewhere else.

My credit score according to Experian is 715.  I have about $7,900 in credit cards (4) that I pay about $300 a month in payments on and about $20,600 in personal loans (4) paying about $500 a month on those.  All my accounts are current and in good standing.  

I don't think bankruptcy would be an option considering from what I've read, you have to apply all your accounts that your name is on to the bankruptcy and I can't do that since I have one other personal loan, two trucks and a motorcycle that are in both the wife and my names and I do not want to include her in this as she has worked hard to have very good credit.  Along with that, a bankruptcy is seven years, doing this other way would be about half that from what I've read.

I can't get any more loans to try to pay this debt down anymore so I'm kind of stuck right now and am considering one of these debt relief plans like National Debt Relief or Accredited or Freedom.  I'm aware that it would drop my score significantly for a couple years but that's not a huge concern right now.  Would this be the best option or is there another way to go?

[GZG]

any sort of debt relief you do will just be like a bankruptcy, if not worse.

$30,000 is not insurmountable debt, particularly if you're not currently late on your payments. 

you need a better job or you need to spend less money, there's really not much else that's going to fix this. 

you can take your finances to a couple of BK attorneys for their perspective, but I would just figure out how to make more money or spend less money because that's what you need to do to fix this. 

[JoeRockhead]

Going the debt relief route with the expectation that your credit will recover in a couple of years is simply untrue, and unrealistic. It will tank your scores for 7+ years.

They'll advise you to stop paying your bills. From there, unlike a BK, your accounts will charge off one at a time staggered down the calender. The charge offs alone will put you on a dirty scorecard for two years from the time the last serious delinquency/status reports, provided there are no more serious delinquency (60 days late or worse).

Also unlike a BK, you'll have no legal protections from collections, or being sued over the debt. There's also no guarantee the creditors will be open to "settlement for less" right away, or at all. 

I'm not advocating you file bankruptcy, but rather consider your options more carefully. Including other ways you can increase your income to tackle the debt, without ruining your credit.

[NoMoreDebt]

I'm in the same industry. From what you have offered up you have 2 choices, find another job that pays better possibly by the hour and you need to get rid of some extras it sounds like when you say 2 trucks and a motorcycle? Being local I don't see how anyone could survive on just being payed mileage. This is why i say find an hourly gig, that's what I have. Even Walmart pays miles AND activity pay on top of that to their Regional OTR guys.

Not being harsh as I have been in your shoes, but at the end of the day unless the mindset is fixed that allows for 5 personal loans and carrying balances on cards and extra vehicles or "toys" ie motorcycle, more pay from another job isn't going to fix the issue.

[FicoMike0]

First of all, I have two friends who are truck drivers. I can't believe what you guys put up with. Both of my friends change jobs frequently. When they hear they're losing a run they like, their looking elsewhere. Keep in mind, you guys are in demand.  One of them just quit a local day job for a solo, otr, home every weekend gig. He says he needs to make some money, get a little ahead.

[FicoMike0]

On the other side of the coin, as @NoMoreDebt  said, you need to figure out how you got in this mess. Living on credit is a disaster waiting to happen. The first month you don't pay your credit card in full, you should declare defcon 1. Not, "oh, it's a small payment, I can afford it". If you could afford it, you could pay in full. Look at the interest rates you're paying these b@st@rds! It's robbery and you're agreeing to it. Don't be a sucker, just say no.

[Clancaster23]

GZG/Joe:  I agree with everything you guys say.  I have good credit and I have worked hard on bring it up over the years when I was down around 550 and I don't want to ruin it now but not many options to avoid it.  I'm leaning towards not doing any of it and just trying to work it out one way or another.  I like to do some woodworking on the side and sell stuff I make so hoping that can alleviate some of this.

Nomoredebt:  I don't have two trucks alone, one is mine and the wife has the other.  I just mentioned them because both our names are on both trucks and the bike.  As far as finding another job, I am looking but for the right one.  I've had my CDL for 18 years and have never done OTR and never will.  Not my kind of thing.  As for finding a better job, I live in one of the poorest counties in PA.  I actually work in the next county north of me traveling 25 miles one way every day.  I look and see what places that are hiring drivers and it's not much better than what I make now.  It's not worth going somewhere else when it would basically be a lateral move.  As I said in the initial post, even now on this run I'm on, I make a good rate.  One other bad thing about changing jobs would be the fact that before I started where I'm at now, I job hopped a lot and that's not what I want to get into.  I'm obviously more mature now and likely wouldn't do that but it's always in my head.  I have been for a while now set on not going crazy with money.  I got these vehicles and these cards when I had my good run and I could afford it then.  Now that I know better, I'm going to fix it and reduce what I spend but it's going to take time.  Lesson learned.

Fico: As I just said above, I'm well aware of how I got here and it is something I have learned from.   

Like GZG said, it's not an insurmountable amount to pay, I just need to figure out the best way to do it.  I am looking at other jobs so something may happen.   If it doesn't, I'll try to think of other ways to make extra.  Thanks all for the opinions.

[FicoMike0]

Good luck with it. We're all on you side.

[sjt]

I would look into a Debt Management Plan (DMP) from a non profit credit counseling service. They negociate a APR reduction (sometimes to 0%) and develope a payment plan to off your credit cards with one monthly payment. It also has little impact on your credit.

https://www.nfcc.org/resources/debt-management-plans/