Help!!!!

[Anonymous]

Hello!
I'm new here. 
My name is John and I am a 20 year old student. 

My CK TU score is 489 Capital one CS is 514 and CK EQ is 487.
I have 2 car loans one for $7,900 (monthly payment $298 i cosigned) the other for $13,357 (monthly payment of $432.85 my car) 
Student loans totalling $10,081 which are in deferment since i'm in school

One close First premier card balance of $428
Daniels Jewlers card open but 120-149 days late with balance of $132
Capital one platinum card with CL of $400 maxed out
Capital one QS1 with CL of $750 maxed out
Kohls card 60-89 days late with balance of $428
and 41 CI on my account.

I'm sick and tired of having bad credit. I don't know where to start or what to do.
When i pay off my CC balance i have to spend it all again to make ends meet.  
Please help with advice 

[Anonymous]

You're way overextended IMO. The way I see it you have two choices. Either get a second weekend job in order to increase your income (Uber driver maybe?) and get caught up and paid off, or let everything go to charge off, and rebuild once you are out of school and working full time.

Are you on a budget?

What sort of income do you have?

[Anonymous]

Hi John, welcome to the myFico forums!

Seems like you are in a vicous cycle.

First question - do you have to make both car payments, or just the one for your car?

Your scores are being held down because of the UTI on your CC balances.

You need to try to first get all the CCs down under 80%, then 50%. then 30%, then 10%.

Each CC needs to be under 80% as well as all of them under 80% of your total CL, all added together.

Really only one way to get it there -  Pay more than you charge.

If you can earn more by getting a better job or more hours or a part time job, that would work well.

Otherwise, you have to economize somewhere else so you spend less and can pay more on the CCs.  

At just a first glance, I would prioritize them as:

Car payment

Cap1 accounts

Jewelers

Kohls

First Premier - is it past 6 months and in a Charge Off (CO) status?  If it is already, let it go for awhile only to get caught up with the others.  if it isnt in CO, try to pay on it to keep it out of CO status.

If you can pay just a couple bucks above the minimum, it looks better.

There is no easy way out of it - you may have to cut way back on things for a few months to get out of the hole.  If you are spending a lot eating out, try to cut back.  If you have cable, cut back.  Look for ways to cut expenses.

Try to avoid getting a CO and avoid penalties and lates.

HTH and GL

[Anonymous]

Are you working part time? Full time? You need to do one of three things. Increase your income, decrease your spending, or as NormanFH suggested, let the credit cards go and rebuild once you are out of school. As far as what you already have, there are lots of ways to tackle it. Find out if the person you cosigned for can refi the car in their own name yet. 12 on time payments will make them much more appealing to auto lenders. If you must, pay only the minimums on your good standing accounts. This keeps them current but doesn't free up money for you to spend. Then start paying off the bad ones. Cut back on your spending. Like ramen noodles and pbj kind of cut back. Find a better paying job. Its easier to find a job when you already have one. I feel your pain. So much so that I can tell you some great add ins for ramen noodles. During my repair, I've eaten them. A lot. But I have gone from 14 baddies to 3. I have several credit cards, a car loan, and a personal loan. Never late on any of them. Its work, and it sucks, but its worth every ramen-noodle-pb&j--tedious-building-my-future meal I've had. You can do it too. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Ramen noodles + an egg + diced bologna or hot dog....

[J91605]

Ramen+chilli+cheese and hot sauce. I still love it🍲😀

PS, Hormel works best.

[Anonymous]

Cheese was not in my budget...

[J91605]

Government cheese!lol

[Anonymous]

Ramen noodles and PB w/hot sauce (and you can always add in leftovers.....cut up chicken/veggies/anything!

Sadly - we lived on them for quite a while when DH was out of work - I can do all kinds of things with Ramen!  To this day - sometimes the kids still ask for noodle bowls! 

John:

See if there is ANY way you can make a couple extra bucks - tutoring?! is always a good one for a college student - and usually CASH!    Put a notice on the boards and see if you can make an extra $20-40 bucks a week with a couple tutor sessions....    Look at your books.......are there any you can sell back (or list on line)   Take any money you get and apply it to the bills.

I picked up a second job last year - and now have added ONE shift a week - it may only be about $45 extra a week - but that adds up to almost $200 a month to plug away at bills.