Credit Card Debt - Debt Consolidation - Am I Fucked?

[digga121]

Like a few Americans I here, I am in some credit card debt. I used CC's through college, and once I graduated, started paying them off, but the interest got out of hand. I then signed up for a debt consolidation company, and from there instructions, did not talk to a creditor, or pay any bills anymore. I then after some research I find out some may not be the best solution, and you can just do it yourself. The company I used was peopledebt.com. I paid about 3 months, then got behind in them payments, because it was a pretty high price per month. I'm now ready to pay them off, but now this company wants 1500 by next week , or there canceling me out of the program. I'd rather just do it myself, by checking into which Creditors have my debt, and settle with them, however I hear they are a pain to deal with. I'm just wondering if anyone had any LEGIT companies that can help out with this, or personal experiences, because I get mixed advice whenever I google it, and there is absolutely no reviews on peopledebt.com, which makes believe that they recently switched there name or something. They definetly seem legit, but I would also probably pay too much, and just assume do it myself if possible.

Thanks for reading!

 

[TFLNetwork]

How much debt are we looking at? The amount is important here, if its over $15k i'd recommend going through a company.

 

[digga121]

Hey TFL, thanks for quick reply, Yes, over $15....I'll give specs since it may help others in the future... they're split up into different CC's,

5k,11k,5k,3k,1k,

So, were looking at like 24, It's a lot I know ..and sux cause I was'nt even into ppc back then. Now I am , but no credit to work with.

 

[TFLNetwork]

I would 100% go with a company, but that's just me. It would probably take much longer to do it by yourself - are the accounts still accruing interest?

I have no personal experience with this, so maybe it would be best to wait to see what someone else says about it, who has dealt with it in the past. I'd try some other forums and see what they say.

 

[babylonian]

I researched about debts before and this forum had tons of information.
Debt Consolidation Forums - Discuss with THE largest debt community

Hope that helps!
Keep us posted, interested to see how you resolved it.

 

[audax]

Those credit counseling companies will wreck your credit so if you're looking to pay off the debt and salvage your credit, then you need to handle it yourself.

First, figure out what the minimum payments are on everything (as an example, let's say its $300). Then determine how much extra you can pay on top of that each month (as as example, let's say you can pay the $300 minimum plus $100 extra each month). Commit that extra amount to the highest interest card first. Once that card is paid off, still commit to the $400 budget each month... so that $30-50 or whatever you were paying to that card gets added to your extra payment. Now move onto the second highest interest card, and so on. By committing to a set amount that you will use for paying down your debt, you'll accelerate the results when each card is paid off.

On top of that, call your credit card companies and just ask for a lower interest rate. Tell them you want to pay it off, even close the account. Once you get those credit balances below 50% of your credit limit, your credit rating will skyrocket back up.

I'd suggest using something like Microsoft Money to track your balances. The Debt Planner in Money is perfect for this type of scenario.

 

[subigo]

Let me tell you what worked for me. Back around 1998 I got a bunch of credit cards, maxed them out, and ended up with about $20,000 in debt. I made $5/hour at the time... I said fuck it, didn't pay a dime, and always ignored the creditors. When I moved I never forwarded my address. After about a year I never heard from them again.

Fast forward to 2004-2005 and all of that debt hit the seven year mark and disappeared from my credit report. Almost immediately my credit score jumped about 200 points.

My point? I don't have one. Fuck credit and the credit score system. If you don't have the money for it, don't buy it.

 

[powell1]

how long has it been since you made your last payment to each? are the debts still with the original creditor or have they been sold?

 

[rileypool]

Let me tell you what worked for me. Back around 1998 I got a bunch of credit cards, maxed them out, and ended up with about $20,000 in debt. I made $5/hour at the time... I said fuck it, didn't pay a dime, and always ignored the creditors. When I moved I never forwarded my address. After about a year I never heard from them again.

Fast forward to 2004-2005 and all of that debt hit the seven year mark and disappeared from my credit report. Almost immediately my credit score jumped about 200 points.

My point? I don't have one. Fuck credit and the credit score system. If you don't have the money for it, don't buy it.

Even though you beat the system... c'mon man. At least own up to your debt. That's pretty pathetic. Everybody likes to buy shit and put it on credit but nobody likes to pay it back. That's just part of the reason America is where it is. Same goes for the government.

I was well over 40k in debt almost two years ago. I've now dwindled it to just 21k and that's all from frugal living and doing it on my own. Now that I'm having luck in the internet monies I plan on having it all paid off by the end of August. It was hard to get started in affiliate marketing with only about 1k cash on hand, but its very possible.

 

[dewme5]

Short sale.! if you are delinquent, they want to get rid of you. use this to your advantage. You "can" settle happily depending on the company for 1/4 the price in some cases. I personally have. No lender wants to hang on to bad debt, it affects their ability to lend more money. They've already gotten lots of interest from you, and settling is a way of guaranteeing they get some of their money back. I'd prefer 100% of monies owed, but I'd much rather take something now, then nothing later.

Call them up. the first person you talk to won't be able to make a decision to reduce past about 20%, but a manager will be able to. You just need a situation they can relate to, no need to mention the work bankrupt, but "struggle" might be effective. Paint the story that if they don't take some now, they might have to settle for nothing later.

 

[subigo]

Even though you beat the system... c'mon man. At least own up to your debt. That's pretty pathetic. Everybody likes to buy shit and put it on credit but nobody likes to pay it back. That's just part of the reason America is where it is. Same goes for the government.

I was well over 40k in debt almost two years ago. I've now dwindled it to just 21k and that's all from frugal living and doing it on my own. Now that I'm having luck in the internet monies I plan on having it all paid off by the end of August. It was hard to get started in affiliate marketing with only about 1k cash on hand, but its very possible.

I was 17 when I started getting credit cards. Even if I wanted to pay them back, I don't remember who most of them were through.

Credit card companies and the FICO scoring system are two of the biggest crooks on the planet. The entire system is set up to put people in debt and control them with fear. I say this as someone who has worked for both JP Morgan Chase and American Express.

Let me tell you a story. The day after 9/11 I was working at Chase (then Bank One) and an order went out to the sales department (I worked for the Internet support division). They were told to call people who were just paying the minimum balance and offer them a credit increase. They were also told to say, "I'd suggest using this increase to go out and buy food, gas, generators, etc... There could be another attack at any time." Of course a lot of people jumped at the offer and ran out to max their cards on "survival supplies". And then the second they missed a full payment (which most of the time tripled or more), we raised them to a 29.99% interest rate. Then, a few months later, those same people would call them back and threaten them with "you'll get a bad credit score if you don't pay this back asap!".

I don't give two shits about the big banks or the FICO system. They can both burn to the ground. In my world, they don't exist. I'd like to see them all go bankrupt.

 

[kingofsp]

I concur with subigo.

 

[r3p1v]

You can file for bankruptcy or do something like what subigo did. After a certain amount of years they can't sue you to get the money so you basically don't have to pay it.

If you want to pay it off, figure out which cards have the highest interest rate. Either pay that card off first or transfer it to a lower interest rate on another card. In other words, pay of the highest interest ones first or at least find a way to lower the interest rate.

I wouldn't ever pay anyone else to get yourself out of debt, just do it on your own.

 

[Hpwandrew]

I was 17 when I started getting credit cards. Even if I wanted to pay them back, I don't remember who most of them were through.

Credit card companies and the FICO scoring system are two of the biggest crooks on the planet. The entire system is set up to put people in debt and control them with fear. I say this as someone who has worked for both JP Morgan Chase and American Express.

Let me tell you a story. The day after 9/11 I was working at Chase (then Bank One) and an order went out to the sales department (I worked for the Internet support division). They were told to call people who were just paying the minimum balance and offer them a credit increase. They were also told to say, "I'd suggest using this increase to go out and buy food, gas, generators, etc... There could be another attack at any time." Of course a lot of people jumped at the offer and ran out to max their cards on "survival supplies". And then the second they missed a full payment (which most of the time tripled or more), we raised them to a 29.99% interest rate. Then, a few months later, those same people would call them back and threaten them with "you'll get a bad credit score if you don't pay this back asap!".

I don't give two shits about the big banks or the FICO system. They can both burn to the ground. In my world, they don't exist. I'd like to see them all go bankrupt.

Dont forget about those fuckers selling "free" trials of acai they can all go bankrupt too

This is how to world works. Everyone manipulates peoples emotions to get what they want. What if there was another attack?

 

[Hpwandrew]

I was 17 when I started getting credit cards. Even if I wanted to pay them back, I don't remember who most of them were through.

Credit card companies and the FICO scoring system are two of the biggest crooks on the planet. The entire system is set up to put people in debt and control them with fear. I say this as someone who has worked for both JP Morgan Chase and American Express.

Let me tell you a story. The day after 9/11 I was working at Chase (then Bank One) and an order went out to the sales department (I worked for the Internet support division). They were told to call people who were just paying the minimum balance and offer them a credit increase. They were also told to say, "I'd suggest using this increase to go out and buy food, gas, generators, etc... There could be another attack at any time." Of course a lot of people jumped at the offer and ran out to max their cards on "survival supplies". And then the second they missed a full payment (which most of the time tripled or more), we raised them to a 29.99% interest rate. Then, a few months later, those same people would call them back and threaten them with "you'll get a bad credit score if you don't pay this back asap!".

I don't give two shits about the big banks or the FICO system. They can both burn to the ground. In my world, they don't exist. I'd like to see them all go bankrupt.

Dont forget about those fuckers selling "free" trials of acai they can all go bankrupt too

This is how to world works. Everyone manipulates peoples emotions to get what they want. What if there was another attack?

 

[Hpwandrew]

www.creditboards.com/forums

 

[WhatupG]

be cool

Just pay the debt, do the right thing.

Don't waste money on debt companies, do it yourself. Find a CC or other source of credit with 0% interest and swap the debt to it until they raise the rates. Rinse and repeat. Slow and steady wins the race here. Small steps, but keep moving. Make at least two payments each month and cut back on expenses as much as possible.

Good luck.

 

[digga121]

Just pay the debt, do the right thing.

Don't waste money on debt companies, do it yourself. Find a CC or other source of credit with 0% interest and swap the debt to it until they raise the rates. Rinse and repeat. Slow and steady wins the race here. Small steps, but keep moving. Make at least two payments each month and cut back on expenses as much as possible.

Good luck.

Hey guys, thanks for all the great advice. I will be going through all your reply's today, and I'll let you know what I end up doing. I do want to do the right thing and pay it off, just have to calculate that in my expenses. The problem is, I can't get another CC and get 0%, or another source of credit because my credit is so bad, so i will have to pay it myself, which is fine becuase I really don't want to be borrowing anymore to pay back, because thats what got me here in the first place.

 

[Refrozen]

I was 17 when I started getting credit cards. Even if I wanted to pay them back, I don't remember who most of them were through.

Credit card companies and the FICO scoring system are two of the biggest crooks on the planet. The entire system is set up to put people in debt and control them with fear. I say this as someone who has worked for both JP Morgan Chase and American Express.

No, credit card companies lend you money for free for a month and at a ridiculous interest rate for more than a month. They are not crooks. They're providing you a service, and you knew exactly what you were getting in to spending more money than you had. Don't spend money that isn't yours and you wouldn't be blaming it on other people.

[...]

"I'd suggest using this increase to go out and buy food, gas, generators, etc... There could be another attack at any time."

That's almost insulting, but, on the other hand, the customer would still have to choose to listen to them. Want to buy some acai berries? They'll make you skinny like this supermodel, I promise ;-).

Edit:

Dont forget about those fuckers selling "free" trials of acai they can all go bankrupt too

I didn't even see this when I said it hahahaha.

 

[subigo]

No, credit card companies lend you money for free for a month and at a ridiculous interest rate for more than a month. They are not crooks. They're providing you a service, and you knew exactly what you were getting in to spending more money than you had. Don't spend money that isn't yours and you wouldn't be blaming it on other people.

Actually, yes, they are crooks. And they broke the law by simply giving me a credit card at the age of 17. They all came from people handing out free shirts during a college tour I took... "Here, fill out this form and get a free shirt." ... A few weeks later I had a shit ton of credit cards.

Anyway, I don't give a shit who you side with. I hate them. And pimp those berries all you want, I never said people weren't stupid. I just said there were crooks in this world.