Here I am 43 years old and I am embarrassed to admit it but, I'm clueless regarding finances! What makes it worse is the fact that we have two teenage sons and now college savings for them.

Listed below are the debts that I consider mine. My wife is financing a car for $15k and over $4k in debt of her own. But, we have agreed that I will concentrate on my cards and she on her cards and car.

DEBTS
2008 Summer Taxes...$2,420.13
2008 Winter Taxes........$692.87
Leuchter M.D. P.C........ $280.00
Kohls..........................$337.80
JCPenny......................$520.72
Dressbarn....................$763.80
Office Depot.................$765.47
Target.........................$974.77
MasterCard...................$230.33
Furniture....................$1,500.34
American Express.........$6,994.00
Past Due Gas.................$232.00
Water & Sewer..............$574.03

TOTAL.......................$16,286.26

Hi Brian,

Here is one idea.

Do some research online for credit cards that offer the lowest interest rate you can find. Be wary of the ones that offer 0% for 6 months as those rates skyrocket eventually. But seek the lowest fixed rate you can.

Apply and get approved. Then pay off all these other credit cards with the new, lower interest card.

The trouble with having so much credit spread out is some of these store credit cards have incredibly high interest rates - 14-21% or more. Steer clear of those.

Hope that helps.

Yup. Figure out a way where you can apply for a lower interest loan to pay that off and slowly pay off that.

BrianJ, you should be using the snowballing payments strategy (by Dave Ramsey, John Commutta, and others). What are your total minimum payments? Are you currently able to make these payments? If so, the snowballing strategy will work. To make is really powerful, add even more, say an extra $100 per month.

The way this works is you commit to a certain level above your minimums. Lets say your total of all minimums is $500. Make a commitment to pay $600 a month to debt reduction, regardless of what happens. You will need to pinch to get this done. Some have to work overtime or even get an extra part time job. Apply that extra $100 to an a "focus" account. This should be your highest interest account (although Ramsey says pick your lowest balance account, to get quick wins by paying off an account). Once that first account is paid off, your minimums will now be lower. But, YOU DON'T REDUCE YOUR COMMITMENT! Keep it at $600 (in my example), freeing up an even bigger amount to attack the next higher rate card, which will get paid off even quicker now. Its that extra amount, the "kicker" each month that is the growing snowball, knocking down debt as it rolls. Take a look at www-DueMinder-com for free software that helps you track this. It also sends payment reminders.

You should address past due balances ASAP, and talk to credit card companies like AMEX and ask for a lower rate. Threaten to transfer balances to a low interest card.

With all those accounts, you are at high risk of forgetting or being late on payments. Never, ever, be late on payments, as the penalties kill your plan.

You must get this done before you have college payments!

Good luck.

nodebt99 offers a very good solution. If, for whatever reason, you are unable to solve the problem this way, I would suggest that you take a look at consolidiating or settling the debt. There are some great companies out there that can help you out. Beware of companies that charge upfront fees for Debt Settlement or Consolidation.

Of course increasing your disposable income will help pay down debt. A new strategy folks with financial hardships are working to increase disposable income is Mortgage Modification. Using a professional service to help you negotiate the terms of your mortgage can help you save hundreds monthly on your mortgage. These companies reduce your payments by: Reducing the interest rate, streching your mortgage out over a 50 year repayment plan as opposed to the typical 30 year, reducing the principle amount, converting ARMs to Fixed Rate Mortgages, etc.

if the amount of debt you have is feasible to pay down then i would look a ways to increase my (multiple streams of) income and eliminate things that i dont need

all that extra money you can then use to pay towards your debt

some things that worked for me
i cut off my phone and cable
sold my car
posted ads on craigslist offering services (cleaning/tutoring)

Meestah, congrats to you for taking these steps to reduce your debt! Hard decisions, I'm sure, but it sounds like you are well on your way to improving your situation.