Debt Consolidation

Ummm a friend of mine had the same problem your going through, what I told him todo is contact his creditors directly and give them a explaination of your current situation. Some of them agreed to discontinue interest charges aswell as stop all activity on his cards until he got his debt down to a controllable level. I'm sure you can call them too and arrange some sort plan, they're usually pretty cooperative(especially with your credit history), try to get someone like a supervisor instead of a reg rep. goodluck

 

If I am hearing correctly what you are saying, you are not in a financial crisis. Why the heck would you want to file a bk? You can and do pay your bills on time, they are just not going down as fast as YOU want them to. There are no bill collectors calling and harrassing you. You are not being sued. Your credit score is not bad. You didn't once say that you can't meet your bills or that you foresee some problem. Now don't take me wrong here but the statement "they just aren't going down fast enough" sounds lazy and just wanting to take advantage of the bk system. Bankruptcy is not something you want to be involved in if you don't have to. It is not the easy way out, trust me, been there, DOING that NOW.

Let me suggest a tool that I found and have recommended to others with this situation. It is located at http://www.debtanalyzer.com/
You simply input line by line all your debt including balances, interest rates, minimum monthly payments, and extra amount per month (if you have extra). It will calculate for you and show you in no uncertain terms how to get these bills paid off quicker. You can even indicate a time frame to pay it off and it will calculate the payments neeeded. It costs about $30. Try this out before making any hasty decisions.

For heavens sake, for $9500 don't file bk. It will cost you somewhere between $500-$1000. You will be fighting an uphill battle that can be won. But that victory might cost you more aggravation and maybe many years than just trying to pay $9500.

 

With what you are desribing, they won't even LET you file for bankruptcy. They would probably deny the petition. You are meeting your obligations. BK is for people who CANNOT meet their obligations and who have more going out than coming it. You could blow it altogether by filing and being turned down and having a petition showing on your credit report, no discharge and still with the same creditors. I would seriously reconsider.


L

 

Have you been banking at the same place for a while? If you've been a good customer, they might consider a debt consolidation loan for you.

Don't even consider bankruptcy. You're not in nearly enough trouble for that.

 

What you need to do is live below your means, quit using charge cards, andstart sending more than the minimum payment each month. Do nothing to alarm your creditors. I wouldn't inquire about a hardship program. Bug 'em about reducing rates but, don't give them a reason to start raising your rates.

 

Ah, okay, I understand what you're saying (and you're right, by the way).

Even if you can manage an extra $10-20 extra on each account every month, it will really help knock your balances down faster.

Whatever you do, DO NOT be late on any of your payments. They'll boost your interest rate through the roof -- even if that particular creditor is not the one you were late with.

Citibank, for example, has a nasty habit of checking your credit report every month to see if you've been late paying anyone else, and if you have, they take it as license to raise their interest rate on your account. I think it's a despicable practice because it punishes you for not paying someone else to pay THEM, but it's perfectly legal.

 

Am I missing something?? Where in his post did he mention the word bankruptcy? People should read more carefully before making such ridiculous statements!

 

Uh, right here:

"I don't want to use the service that just lowers your monthly billing, b/c they report that to the credit bureaus, and I would be better off filing bankrupcy."

Granted, most of us misunderstood the statement, but the word "bankruptcy" was there.

 

Ok..i take back where I said where he mentioned "bk", but the context was misunderstood as you pointed out. Never mind. The point I was making was people jumped all over him thinking he was going to declare bk when he was merely stating he would be better off filing given the circumstances.

 

Yes Slayer you missed it big time. Some people should read more carefully before making such ridiculous statements. The post quite clearly states: