I'm really sorry you're facing such a dire situation. Try to keep your head up and focus on what you can do, rather than focus on how bad it is.
When my husband and I were drowning in debt with no apparent way out, we used Consumer Credit Counseling Services. I don't know if they're even still around, but there must be others like them. They were a debt negotiation service; they contacted each creditor and mapped out a plan that was workable for our budget, and we made the monthly payments directly to CCCS, who then doled them out to the creditors. It was so long ago, I honestly can't remember how this affected our credit, i.e., whether using CCCS helped keep our records in better shape....but it doesn't matter, because we had tanked our credit by then. Anyway, we eventually paid off all the debt, which made us feel good, but did it on a budget we could actually live with.
Whatever you do, don't fall for one of those silly 'credit repair' or 'wipe out all your debt!' places. They're full of...well, you know.
The previous poster has given you some excellent advice.
If you're determined to pay your debts, you should be able to figure out a way, but if bankruptcy turns out to be your only viable path...been there, done that. It's awful. It's a terrible feeling of failure and being a loser, but it's available for a reason, so if you need to make use of it, do. Don't hang your head in shame (like I did), just accept it and move on.
@Anonymous, I was in your shoes about 10 years ago with debt, mostly business related, but in my name (and run up by my former business partner), which amounted to two to three times what I could expect in gross annual income from a regular job. When I found out about the absurd amount of debt I was in, I left the company I had co-founded over 30 years before and took a job with one of my clients, and yeah, that gross income was well under half of my debt; "Hello, Chapter 13!"
While a bankruptcy of any sort is hard medicine for us mere mortals, in my case at least, the "Wage Earner" plan worked out well for me. Once the "stay" goes into effect, all interest and penalties are immediately stopped, and then based upon your income and monthly expenses, your creditors get paid back some or all of what you owe over the next three to five years. For me at least, even though I'm already up to retirement age, I made a career change while in my bankruptcy, and that change has since exploded into a huge new job. Trust me, it is very comforting to look at a future with lots of opportunity and zero debt.
@Anonymous
If you're going the counseling or consolidation route, another is Trinity Debt Management, a non-profit agency. Good luck to you.
