Help with credit card debt
Hi, does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle a lot of credit card debt and loans? Are there any services that have helped you if you were in this situation?
1catmom https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/
You will get great help there- lots of knowledgeable people and info.
Josh 
ianimal If you won't be able to hire a debt consolidation firm to "take care of your debt", cut unnecessary expenses (like starschmucks coffee every morning, netflix etc.). Pay off smallest and most expensive (with highest interest rate) debt first (not with minimum monthly payments, but with as much as you can).
Pay all other debts as minimums.
Nest step is to save some money and call your debtors to settle your debt. One by one.
Let's say you owe 10,000 to bank X, call it, speak to a supervisor and talk about settling. Don't beg, don't cry, talk. Remember - you can always file a bankruptcy as you last resort not to pay. If your bank X agrees to settle, you may even settle with a few payments. All "saved" money from this extinguished debt will be counted as your income, therefore prepare to pay an income tax on it.
Try this approach with loan(s).
While doing all this, don't use your credit cards at all.
Purchase only what you must have, not what you want to have.
Stop drinking Jack Deniel's.
Pyc Ianimal have some compassion! Someone is asking for help. No snarky comments are appreciated. Hopefully you've never been in that position
JN 
Sacks cousin
Calico696 I agree. No snarky comments. Have some compassion. When someone is asking for help, they mean 'help'. We do not know or shouldn't pry into WHY they are in debt. It could be inherited, a widow, job loss, and so many circumstances beyond their control, so telling them to work more, spend less or cut out coffee isn't an answer.
My friend declared bankruptcy and was advised by a lawyer to wait one year and then open a secured credit card. Use it and pay the bill immediately. Do that for a year then open an unsecured card and do the same thing for a year. The interest rate will be astronomical, but by year three they purchased a new car and a home. And their credit was back on track. I don't advocate bankruptcy, but it doesn't seem to be that difficult to repair.
Parental Unit File bankruptcy, then get a cake job working for the local government. Tell everyone how hard you worked to pay it off.
dodgebaal Well you should be using stimulus money to pay off debt. That's what we did with the last 2 we got. We had a personal loan out to pay off debt and now we only have 2 payments left. Any extra money we got and stimulus checks went towards that. The 3rd stimulus will go towards other credit card debt. We're trying to get our debt down to buy a house.
Metsman Having this world less compassionate ('nothing personal, strictly business'), when I was in debt, I avoided file bankruptcy [Decades ago, it was an option since it would just be on your record for 7 years...NOT ANY MORE!], as it now will put a deep black mark (or black-eye) on your record much further and longer you can imagine, in this digital world.
Therefore, (what I've done and suggest are):
1- The ONLY loan option would be a bank HELOC (consolidation of your debts through the equity in your mortgage) or Home Refinance (to cash-out debts), if you own a home ...especially with such low rates nowadays. [I'd never get a high rate or additional separate loan from any other financial institution. As that would defeat your purpose to 'get-out-of-debt' ...before using all other options]
2- Mirroring most in Pyc's comment that I've done is: Have good conversation with each debtor/credit-card company about your situation -[Lost of work/family member {due to Covid or Restrictions that effected your $ sources, etc.}]- that can knock out at least 50% of your debts while also put yourself on a path to get you out of debt.
*Depending on a last resort when a Debtor won't budge (even after discussing the situation with a Supervisor), then you may pull the B word, but in a better way... "I'm discussing this with you as I'm trying hard to avoid file Bankruptcy...but if you can't help me write-off some of this debt or at least cease compounding interest on it (at least for a year) then I need to close my account (...or put a permanent freeze on the account) as bankruptcy papers go through with your firm.*
3- Once you zero'd down which debts have the highest rate (down to the least), you should first try to use that "18 Months With 0%" transfer balance offer to move the highest rate debt to the 18mo 0% one - That will buy you time plus add more value in your payment (dollar-to-dollar) compared to paying off any other debts.
https://www.comparecards.com/guide/pay-0-interest-2022-sem
3a- You should pay off the debt with the Highest rate first, then the lowest rate card the lease, in a laddered % way like this: ie: if you can afford payoff $1000/month, then (assuming 3 cards to cover) pay off $600, $300, $100 [60%, 30%, 10%]
4- Lastly, one of the more unsettling or tedious thing to "cut" (beyond curtailing spending or your cost-of-living) is SELLING things (around the house). HOWEVER, since it's now EASIER and FREE in this digital world, simply take a picture of your junk (collecting dust) like kid's old EA games they don't play anymore, game sets/players, anything from chairs/tools/toys/stereo equipment, etc. in your shed or basement on this site: https://offerup.com/ ...That'll easily and quickly shore up some $ to help you pay off some of your debts. Remembering... "Someone's junk is another person's Treasure"
GL
aol123@aol.com It was extremely painful, but I got connected with a Dave Ramsey coach. I laid out every penny coming in and every debt, cost of living, etc. I had to pay the minimum on every cost, but one until it was paid off. Now I am debt free, no car debt, no credit card debt, no medical debt. Thank you Jesus!
debtfree I would be careful with Dave Ramsey. I could see for some people his approach works really well, but I could also see how for others it might not have the intended results, as at the end of the day it's "tough love" by spending less, and working more.
Either way, his general tenets are pretty sound (Though on mathematical principles, I disagree with his debt snowball method, as you really want to payoff highest APR debt first, not the smallest ones based on amount. I do see how for some the accomplishment of paying off a few debts faster could be mentally beneficial, however).
The biggest thing is maintaining discipline by sticking to a budget and eliminating spending on all but the necessities and then reallocate what's left to paying off debts. He does illustrate that many people are better off not declaring bankruptcy and how short term pain can really be worth it. He's also a proponent of negotiating with banks to settle debts for less than you owe sometimes by threatening bankruptcy (though this has tax implications).
Route 46 Call National Debt Relief. I'm almost done with the program. They do all the negotiating and are wonderful. I didn't have to worry anymore.
BassetMaMa 
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