How to dig out of the hole without getting dirty?

[Anonymous]

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@grillandwinemaster wrote:

You want to get Out w/o getting dirty? 

Hate to break it to you buddy, but your already dirty.  You stepped on sh$&! Now you have to clean it up. 

Bk depends on your income. If your in the 25-35k range, yup I think your bankrupt. If your in the 45k+ range, you can dig yourself out with good budgeting.

You May look at getting a second job and throwing all at your debt.  Like Norman said, the debt snow ball method has worked for many people. 

I know most would disagree with the following advice, but if I were in YOUR shoes, I would close EVERY LAST ONE of those credit cards. History has down that your not ready to handle them. The last thing you need to do is continue to use the cards after you make some progress, which I suspect you would. Your credit is already  "temporarily" trashed, so the fact that your uti %'s are going to skyrocket does not matter.  Yeah, I do get where you are coming from here. I'm now dealing with the fact that I *wasn't* really ready yet for a high limit card, on top of getting the mortgage. Things ballooned on me very quickly, and now I'm close to being overextended, thanks to a very large collection that the CA decided to hit me with both barrels on. Hopefully I can recover without any lasting damage.

When you do pay everything off, you Will have all the history of all the accounts as a plus ( hopefully) if you're able to stay current. Then, and only Then would I entertain the idea of getting new cc's. Only 3 max, you don't need more than that. 

I'm not judging you. I'm not trying to be harsh. I've been in your shoes and managed to pull out. I still have a few bruises as a result. 

Best credit wishes to you!

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[Blackswizz750]

You are best off with a lawyer. Dont worry about your score right now. Just get some of this cleared out. DONOT use your 401K if you have one. If you can sell something of value to cover a few of the highest interest items. I was here in college and it took me having to cover a huge unexpected exspense mothly that cause me to go for a fresh start. You should look at that avenue and go from there. Hopefully, you dont lose everything you worked hard for.

[Anonymous]

I'd get a second job at this point since it sounds like the $1200 is a one time deal. As long as it doesn't mean paying for child care, I'd do anything - and have in the past during some dark days. Best Buy, Lowe's, Home Depot, Sears...I've worked at them all. Not as second jobs either.  Even if you just work 12 hours a week at $10/hr, that's presumably about $375-400/mo after taxes to get these cards knocked out. Even if you feel like you are eating Humiliation Pie, just do it.

[sarge12]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I'd get a second job at this point since it sounds like the $1200 is a one time deal. As long as it doesn't mean paying for child care, I'd do anything - and have in the past during some dark days. Best Buy, Lowe's, Home Depot, Sears...I've worked at them all. Not as second jobs either.  Even if you just work 12 hours a week at $10/hr, that's presumably about $375-400/mo after taxes to get these cards knocked out. Even if you feel like you are eating Humiliation Pie, just do it.

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In a time of very high unemployment, and many not even being able to find a first job, that may or may not be an option.

[Anonymous]

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@Blackswizz750 wrote:

You are best off with a lawyer. Dont worry about your score right now. Just get some of this cleared out. DONOT use your 401K if you have one. If you can sell something of value to cover a few of the highest interest items. I was here in college and it took me having to cover a huge unexpected exspense mothly that cause me to go for a fresh start. You should look at that avenue and go from there. Hopefully, you dont lose everything you worked hard for.

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I tend to disagree. Maybe its because I come from a different place and time, but IMO a BK is a last resort tactic to stave off creditors, collectors and lawsuits, in order to prevent wage garnishments and potential loss of home, and/or property. As long as OP is current on everything, not falling behind and not getting charge-offs and collections, then a budget reassessment and an honest attempt to get things under control should be attempted first. The great majority of these accounts are low limit cards - $500 and less. That means a snowball method can be very effective at getting things under control rather quickly. Once several are paid off with the lump sum he is getting, the freed up payments will gather steam pretty fast and he could easily have half of the accounts cleared in a years time.

It is CRITICAL, however, that the OP cut the cards up, close the store cards and start going "cash only" for at least the next 12-24 months.

[Anonymous]

income 0

credit score hovering around 600 higher when it checks after payment lower when payment is due 

what is killing me is the combo of the 2 cap 1's near 100 min payment and hsn hccredit and fingerhut all also having 100 min payments

the target is to get things to under 500 per month in min payments

while i have 0 income i have resources at my disposal 

bankrupcy is not an option as it would undermine everything ive done for my business that is inactive while I am back in school.

the scary part is 1 year ago my balance was sub 10k

[sarge12]

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@Anonymous wrote:

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@Blackswizz750 wrote:

You are best off with a lawyer. Dont worry about your score right now. Just get some of this cleared out. DONOT use your 401K if you have one. If you can sell something of value to cover a few of the highest interest items. I was here in college and it took me having to cover a huge unexpected exspense mothly that cause me to go for a fresh start. You should look at that avenue and go from there. Hopefully, you dont lose everything you worked hard for.

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I tend to disagree. Maybe its because I come from a different place and time, but IMO a BK is a last resort tactic to stave off creditors, collectors and lawsuits, in order to prevent wage garnishments and potential loss of home, and/or property. As long as OP is current on everything, not falling behind and not getting charge-offs and collections, then a budget reassessment and an honest attempt to get things under control should be attempted first. The great majority of these accounts are low limit cards - $500 and less. That means a snowball method can be very effective at getting things under control rather quickly. Once several are paid off with the lump sum he is getting, the freed up payments will gather steam pretty fast and he could easily have half of the accounts cleared in a years time.

It is CRITICAL, however, that the OP cut the cards up, close the store cards and start going "cash only" for at least the next 12-24 months.

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I agree with you completely if there is the ability to gradually make progress. If however his income is only going to allow him to make minimum payments, then he is only an unexpected expense away from falling behind on payments, and he is only kicking the can down the road. Since we do not have a full picture of his DTI and such, it is all conjecture based on limited info. I will say that sometimes people spend years borrowing from Peter to pay Paul, just to have to eventually declare BK anyway, when there would have been less harm to themselves and others if they had declared BK earlier. Usually better to declare before they are moving the furniture out of the house.

[sarge12]

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@Anonymous wrote:

income 0

credit score hovering around 600 higher when it checks after payment lower when payment is due 

what is killing me is the combo of the 2 cap 1's near 100 min payment and hsn hccredit and fingerhut all also having 100 min payments

the target is to get things to under 500 per month in min payments

while i have 0 income i have resources at my disposal 

bankrupcy is not an option as it would undermine everything ive done for my business that is inactive while I am back in school.

the scary part is 1 year ago my balance was sub 10k

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No income, unknown resources at disposal...not giving us a heck of a lot of info for anyone to give good advice.

[Anonymous]

my resources dont matter only wanted to know the best way to snowball this to get cards w high ann fees closed asap and reduce min payments to 500ish

[sarge12]

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@Anonymous wrote:

my resources dont matter only wanted to know the best way to snowball this to get cards w high ann fees closed asap and reduce min payments to 500ish

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Probably paying off lowest balances first, but without knowing minimum payments and interest rates it is hard to say. I respect your right to privacy. Sorry if I misunderstood what you were asking.