I'm 48 and had my score up to 830 with perfect history. Then I went through some stuff and racked up $70,000 in credit card debt just to survive it. I haven't worked in a year and am over limit and six months past due on all my cards. Every card has been closed by the bank and I no longer have an open credit card. My score is just under 500. After working so hard to build such a good credit rating, I'm devastated to think it's now ruined. I'm looking for hope that it can be fixed.
I've been clawing my way back to life and am moving forward again. I can no longer do the career I did for thirty years since high school and am changing careers into trucking. I just went to trucking school and have a job offer with possibly the best starter company for rookie drivers to begin in less than two weeks. Pay is great for truckers, but only after you endure six months to a year of low pay while getting your initial experience. I hope to average $1000/week give or take for the first six months or so before I can start moving into better paying positions. My expenses are $2700/month, but I'm thinking about leaving my apartment and living in my truck in order to save $22,000/year on rent and pay down debt that much faster. I want to start paying on my credit cards asap, but it isn't going to be much to start out and I'm afraid I won't be able to please the banks making meager payments for the next six months and that's going to hurt my credit report even more.
Banks are offering me settlements but I don't plan on taking them because I'm afraid doing so will ruin my rating even more in the long term. I don't care how much I have to pay. My primary concern is restoring my rating as much as possible. My plan is to pay it down as rapidly as possible and then write goodwill letters to the banks citing my prior excellent rating and asking them to remove bad marks from my report.
So give it to me straight. Can I fix this? Will the banks accept me making smaller payments until I start making more money, and will they respond positively to my goodwill letters and wipe the slate clean?
Submitted July 06, 2024 at 03:08AM by Locutus88 https://ift.tt/nI5oCOV
