I’m an idiot I know. Not gonna get into the details of how I got here, doesn’t matter at this point.
For the past 2 months I’ve been very mindfully implementing a whole lifestyle change. Canceled all non-essential subscriptions. Changed my gym to planet fitness for $15/mo. Only spending on necessities and food. No health insurance. My ex is still paying for my car insurance. Car is paid off. Basic living expenses including rent, gas, food, and utilities, gym, subscriptions, is roughl 2,970 for monthly living expenses.
I make $4,800/month. - I have the means to put in more hours doing Uber eats or door dash or shipt -or any other side gig I haven’t thought off, I’m open to recommendations and ideas BUT even if I do that, I can’t keep up with the debt and interest I’ve accrued.
For the first time ever, I’m not going to be able to pay even the minimum cc balance due on one of my cards. My credit score has tanked over the last several months mostly from high utilization, it’s been sitting at 650 for the past 3 months.
This is what I’m looking at Discover $15,400 at 99% utilization Amex $5,600 no limit USAA $7,200 at 72% Capital One $7,200 at 72% PayPal Credit $2,500 62% All interest rates in the mid to high 20 percents
and the only one I’m not worried about Care Credit $5,200 because it’s 0% interest until August 2025 and I can pay the $150 minimum toward it monthly
Thought about opening a balance transfer card to buy some time but got denied for 3 of them.
I called accredited debt relief earlier and ended up signing up for their program. But after extensive research, it sounds so risky. Pretty much I’d be letting all my accounts go to default and they negotiate everything down for a fee of 25% of my total debt. Even thoug they claim I’ll be “saving “ $8k in their program. I feel like I can do all that myself if I really HAVE TO. But this sounds like a last resort thing and I feel like I have some leeway. I have time to cancel. Ugh, they really had me sold about their negotiation team but there’s no guarantee that I’ll be protected from Debt collections and the creditors taking me to court for not paying. I have no legal protection if my creditors would be unwilling to work with them.
I would like to not file for bankruptcy if at all possible. That’s an absolute last last resort and only if there are no other viable options.
Please share your thoughts, ideas, options, and advice, and PLEASE be kind. I am already ashamed of myself and am sad/stressed about this. It’s nobody’s fault but my own and I really want to fix it.
Submitted February 16, 2024 at 10:30PM by jcqlnzmmrmnn https://ift.tt/Ul2GgKf
