Forums
Hi,
I work full time and my wife is on disability. In the last few years things got worse and we started using credit cards more and more at the end of the month to make ends meet. Last summer I had no work, so we used them even more, then without realizing it we had maxed out on several.
We now have over 30,000 debt on several ( about 8 ) credit cards. We were paying just the minimums on all of them until this past June. I just couldn't even pay the minimum on about 1/2 the cards, so I just stopped paying the higher ones. We had already been on a hardship program for a few of the cards and most are closed already.
We also have a mortgage that we are current on and plan to stay current on. Where do we go from here?
Please help
making payments on credit card accounts
Hi Iago,
You can try settling the outstanding debt amounts with the creditors or else you can consolidate your debts into a single one.
Debt settlement lowers the outstanding debt amount by 40-60% and thus, it becomes easier to pay off the debt. However, debt settlement hurts your credit score.
Debt consolidation on the other hand lowers the interest rate. In debt consolidation your several debts are consolidated into a single one and thus you will have to make a single monthly payment. As you have several credit cards, you can transfer balances from the high interest cards to a low interest one. Whatever you do, get the agreements in writing.
Maintain the payments on your mortgage.
Thanks,
Aaron
paying off credit card debts
Hi Iago,
You can also talk to your creditors about the financial hardship you are in and negotiate a lower minimum payment. In case you try consolidating your debts and if you face problems in doing so, you can take help of a debt consolidation company.
Thanks.