Well, the first thing you have to do when you get in a whole is stop digging, in other words quit accumulating debt.

To be honest with you, if the situation is already that bad you may want to consider bankruptcy. I am not an advocate of such an move but in some cases (and yours may be one of those) that will be the best solution.

You can try to set up a budget plan and list all your debt and monthly payments and see if that budget will help you. If it does you may want to stick with it but you said you have a lot of debt and a small income. At age 58 even if the budget will offer a solution you are likley to pay back for many years.

Unfortunately you have been caught in the debt trap and in your case consider bankruptcy. The majority of the nation lacks financial education which is the reason why we have the huge debt problem to start with. Lack of financial education and very poor advice in many cases are a dangerous combination.

Before you do that contact your debtors and see if you can work out something. They rather have you pay a portion of the debt then file for bankruptcy. When you call them don't be scared of them. They will try anything to talk you out of that.

Good luck to you.

Nothing seems to be that late fo fix the situation. But first thing first this is what you need to do with 'dicipline':

1. Assess your debts
This is important to know where your stand point of your financial status currently.

2. Make a plan
Having understood your position, decide as to how long you intend to pay your debts.

3. Budget accordingly
Now that you have arrived at your total debt amount, you now have to budget your expenditures.

4. Further reduce your spending
If you find out that your monthly income seems to be less than your projected monthly expenses, try to check which purchases you can put off or cut out entirely. Try to stick to your needs rather than the wants.

5. Maximize your savings
If you have some money in the bank, try to determine how you can use it best to pay off your debts.

6. Search for additional payment sources
You can get a part time job or set up a home business to further augment your financial obligations.

Hope this will help.
Anta

Anta, the plan you outlined is not a bad plan but you have to consider the situation of the individual. In some cases it makes sense to file for bankruptcy.

Is it a responsible move?

Maybe not. You borrowed the money so you have to repay it. That's true but there are some situations where it doesn't make any sense to do what's ethical.

I believe that in this case it makes no sense. It's better to focus on retirement (If there is no retirement plan in place at age 58 this may be tough as well but not impossible).

[quote=Hermes;5302]Anta, the plan you outlined is not a bad plan but you have to consider the situation of the individual. In some cases it makes sense to file for bankruptcy.

Is it a responsible move?

Maybe not [quote]

Hermes, seems that will be the only way for Eddie having examined his condition. However, Eddie: You may won't benefit from it if in the past six to eight years, you have benefited from a bankruptcy discharge. Likewise, if after examination of your income, expenses, and overall debt, it was found out that the other type of bankruptcy proceeding is more appropriate, then you can't insist on pursuing this kind. For instance veterans who are now disabled and who incurred their debt at the time of their active duty are almost automatically allowed to file. In addition, those people whose debts are caused by running a business are qualified as well. For those people not belonging to any of these categories, certain criteria must be met.

Eddie, seek this possibility.

Rgds,
Anta

I started surfing the web days ago after I consulted with a debt counselor last week. I am a professional with a graduate degree and own my own home. I have excellent credit~ as of this second. I am divorced, no children. I got into the credit card rut because I am a social worker and simply do not make much money. (And obviously fell prey to having to own certain things, I admit. I strated out here on the John Commuta thread)
I am about $30,000 in credit card debt and have been playing the card transfer game. I decided to see a debt counselor and after about 4 hours of brainstorming and tweaking, her advice was this: Keep my mortgage payments current, pay off my car with a credit card, continue to pay on two of the cards and keep them for ER's. And blow off the other 5 credit card companies. All they can do is harass you and ultimately, just lower your credit rating for 5-6 years. I will still have perfect mortgage credit (comes straight out of my account) and a good reputation with Wells Fargo, the card I will keep.
So, I'm getting that if I just have thick skin and can handle a few phone calls and strongly worded letters, not much will happen to me?
My mortgage is $1342 monthly; have owned the home for 5.5 years. After my mortgage and car payment ($289) I have about $700 left over for food, electric, insurance, gas, all other bills. I still owe about $146,000 on my home and I live in Texas so it is the property taxes and PMI that is killing me.
Should I just hunker down and be frugal and make a plan to pay my credit cards off, and/or sell my house? In the market here in Texas, I think I can make at least $20,000 on my home and buy something in the $90,000-$120,000 range in a neighborhood where I won't be a victim of a drive-by.
Regards~

It seems to me that you have more smarts and ethics than the counselor you spoke with. Sometimes there is no choice but to walk, other times you can "hunker down" and come out far ahead in many ways. I believe you see the light and need to follow your heart.

Dru, thank you for the reply. I think I want someone to say "go ahead and blow off those mean old credit card companies" but I do believe in kharma and doing the right thing. I am meeting with a realtor on Thursday and will try to buy a home within my budget.
I wonder, would it be worthwhile to call the credit card companies and see if they will work with me, perhaps a lower interest rate, or discuss other options with them?
Any other suggestions or research/reading recommendations are appreciated.

You can always call the CC companies and see if you can work out a deal. They rather have you pay something than nothing at all but be aware that they will talk you out of anything and deny any deal you may offer unless you 'know how to talk to them'. They do that because that is what they are paid to do. Don't be scared when you call them otherwise you just wasted some valuable time.

Being a home owner I wouldn't advise that you blow off the other 5 card companies. If the debt with any of them is big enough or they pursue it they will take you to court and place a lien against your house, in addition to the no payments and the destruction of your entire credit profile, it's going to be "hard" to convince any bank, even locally, that you have good "mortgage credit" and they should give you a house loan.

You don't get to talk to the decision makers at Wells Fargo and it isn't likely that Wells Fargo or the mortgage company with your current loan are going to be pleased to do business with you after they see your credit report even though you were faithful to them.

To give you a personal example of how merciless banks are: I have about 7 active credit cards, I own several houses, and I have an auto loan. My house loan, my auto loans, and one of my credit cards is at the same bank, as well as, all of my checking, savings, and brokerage accounts. I have perfect credit history with them, not even a payment over a day late with them, in addition, I have perfect credit period...1934 total payments over the last 7 years no delinquincies, but when I bought a house on a credit card (you can read about it in the blog titled creative financing at thomasvan.net), I went over 50% of my total available credit on my credit cards, but not much higher than that; regardless, all of my banks I was "loyal" to denied me for a home equity loan when I tried to refinance it later just because my credit score had dropped to the high 600s from the transaction (684 lowest).

I no longer fit into their "loan guidelines" anymore, because I threw my debt to income ratio off with the credit card minimum payments (Which totalled around 3x as much per month as a mortgage would have).

It is reallly scary when I see how much control these people have over our lives. I still get the glowing letters telling me that they have raised my credit limit because I have such a great credit history- then they send those checks to use to pay off other loans, which I promptly shred. It is so insidious.
I feel like a fraud because as a social worker, I constantly help my clients with their budgets. And here I am in this situation.
But as a cognitive therapist, I must approach this positively and assume that the Universe is tapping me on the shoulder and telling me to make some drastic changes.
I am meeting with a realtor tomorrow as a buyer. Any advice on how to go about selling if I decide to go that route? Why should I pay them 7%? I am a smart woman. Surely I could do this practically on my own? Or, I hear good things about 1% realty.
As always, any advice/suggestions appreciated and considered.

If you don't find a good real estate agent who is actually interested in selling your house the only benefit you will get is being listed on whatever listing service or services that real estate company uses. This makes it possible for other realtors / companies to find your house in their database searches and show them to their clients.

Remember, realtors will not show their clients houses that are not listed on the listing service because they are not guaranteed a commission for their work. It is possible that someone using a realtor as a buyer's agent will be shown for sale by owner houses but only if the realtor is given a chance to go in and negotiate a commission for bringing in potential buyers with the seller of that house prior to bringing anyone there.

When you go out with a realtor as a buyer, I recommend not signing anything with them; they usually have sneaky contracts that you sign that says you will pay them commission for any for sale by owner houses you end up purchasing and that they are your primary agent even if you use another agent to purchase a house they can take that agent to court who receives the commission and get the money from them (seen it happen already). Also, they will most likely not show you any For Sale By Owners or other houses using non-traditional listing services; so remember to check For Sale By Owners and other areas, they usually have better deals because the sellers of a house aren't forced to pay a high commission to a real estate agent.

So those are some of the advantages of just being listed, which is given if you get a real estate agent to sell your house for you. If you find one that doesn't have a lot of deals going on or one that you know is good they will also be more resourceful and passionate about selling your house, which is a bonus.

Not using a real estate agent or using things like 1% realty will leave you out in the dark for the most part in the real estate market but it is possible to sell your house still depending on how motivated you are. You can do open houses, list the house in the newspapers, ask friends and family if they know anyone who wants to buy a house etc. If you use a cheap listing service like 1% you get visibility on their local listings, which is basically like a real estate section of a newspaper except it might be more popular. Hope this helps.

I agree with the others that the first thing to do is to stop accumulating debt. It really is tough to pay up considering your situation. Try and try to find a job and don't give up yet. There will surely be a job for you. If you really can't find a job, then you should better talk to the bank straightaway.

Negotiate with your credit card companies to lower your balances and create a debt settlement payment plan with them. Typically your creditors will want to settle with you in order to avoid you enrolling in a Credit Card Counseling Service or worse filing a bankruptcy whereas they would receive very little money at all. You must always ask your creditors to provide any settlements in writing to you and then make sure you are able to stick to the terms. Your creditors are looking for the most reasonable way to clear your accounts if you have fallen past due and a settlement can work for you and the creditor.

There is always the case where you can sell your house, start renting and apartement, take the cash and pay off the debt. I know there is nothing like home ownership along with all the benefits, but there is also nothing like "blowing off the 5 cards" and filing bankruptcy.

Some times it takes a little more sacrifice than one would like, but getting out of such a situation is completely worth it. Good luck.