@aLottaGoodEggs wrote:
Alright everyone, I'm feeling extremely discouraged about my credit situation. Here's where I'm at:
Filed bankruptcy in 2014. After the bankruptcy I got several credit cards: 2 CapOne cards, a Comenity Bank/VS card and a Kohls card. I tried to be responsible with them, paid on time until husband lost his job. I then had to put every single penny of my income into keeping a roof over our heads and food on the table - that took priority over the credit card payments. All the cards were charged off/closed/sold to collections. I also accrued some medical collections (under 2k) so that is also reporting on my credit. About 9 months ago I took out 2 secure credit cards in an attempt to rebuild, one I've kept up with and the other I missed payments for 90 days and they closed it. I checked my FICO today and it's 445... I just don't know what to do. I'm now a single mom, most of my income goes towards my living expenses and food on the table, so I can't afford to pay off any of the collections. I don't qualify for any credit cards due to my low score unless they're secured cards (and I can't afford to have money tied up in deposits for secured cards). My credit score is affecting my quality of life. I can't rent a decent home (even though I've never been late on my rent) because landlords look at my credit score and say "no way!" so I'm stuck renting in the ghetto and/or from slumlords that don't care about credit. I mean, what can I do that doesn't require me to spend thousands of dollars that I don't have? Am I just stuck until the 7 years runs out and all the negative stuff falls off? Are any of the credit repair companies effective worth the money?
I'm pretty sure you need to file for bankruptcy again. When you go to the doctor and cannot pay, all you need to do is tell them and they will work with you. It's possible to do that now, even though they are in collections, because there are laws in place to protect people from accruing too much medical debt. However, because of the other money you ALREADY spent, I don't think it's worth going down that road. Unless you can pay all of these off, minus the medical debt, there's really no way to pull your scores out of the gutter.
I understand getting in over your head, but I think that something you maybe didn't learn in your bankruptcy is to not spend more than you have. While there are cases in which things pop up that span a few months to cover (medical, car trouble, etc), I know for certain the VS/Kohl's charge-offs weren't necessary spends or emergency situations. At all costs, you shouldn't be putting on credit cards what you wouldn't be paying out of your cash reservoir. I don't mean to sound insensitive, but it's clear from your title that you don't seem to understand that you did spend "copious amounts" of money, and that is why you are in this predicament to begin with.
I know that's probably not what you want to hear, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and realize that in your second chance, you still didn't have the right mind-set in place to understand and use credit responsibly.
I strongly suggest you file bankruptcy again, look closely at your expenses, and start squirreling away whatever is leftover into savings. Ideally, you should have AT LEAST three months of bills, but six months is much better. That way if something happens, you will be able to pay off outstanding debts and meet your obligations while you recover from whatever has happened. I would steer clear of getting any cards until you have the savings in place.
I understand your situation, I really do. I am a single mom, and got zero help from my daughter's father. I grew up in poverty and my parents stole from others, and when I started working, stole from me, too. I never really got the chance to get myself into debt, but my mom stole my identity and so I started out with horrible credit and it stayed there until I took care of it. I lived in a lot of really sketchy places with my kid and at time worked 3 jobs to hold it all together - all because of my credit history. Life can be hard, but as long as you deal with it when it happens, it won't turn out so badly. If other medical things come up, immediately ask about programs for low-income individuals. If you are unable to pay a bill on time, call that biller immediately to make arrangements. Often times it's the communication of issues that is so incredibly difficult, but it's the one thing that can save you from falling into disarray.
I do wish you the best of luck in trying to get back on top of things.
