How do i pay???!!!!

Hey Eric, sorry you're going through this. I would think this site's free consultation would surely help you. Are you in default with any of your creditors? were you able to call your agencies to see if they would at least lower your interest payments or over the credit fees if you have them? If you haven't done this yet, this may be a good start, that way you don't have to pay more than you need to. And, while it is very frustrating, sounds like you have had some decent luck getting some money to pay your credit off! I sure hope you find an answer from someone who was just under the credit limit requirements for consolidation. like i said i would think this site's consultation service will help you lots. hang in there! hope that when we hear from ya again you're doing a little better

WELL, i'm new to this site. I was just looking around for ways to pay and stumbled across it. I didn't even know they had free consultation. Thank you for pointing it out for me. I will surely put it to good use.

Hi Eric. Welcome to the forum. :-) Could you afford to put $10-$15 towards extra towards your lowest debt per month? Since you have alot of smaller debts, you might be able to pay them off and save some money by starting with the smallest, applying a little extra money (while still maintaining the other accounts, if possible), paying off the smaller one and then using the money to start on another account. Lots of people have been successful this way. Also, with a free consultation, you might be informed of options that you didn't think were available. Good luck, and keep us informed. :-)

The way I read the original post is that you have enough to pay off your debts, is that correct?

If so, pull a copy of all three of your credit reports. Next, send an offer letter to each account, however make sure you tell them you want your account marked "paid in full".

Click on the "Do It Yourself" link at the top center of the page, you'll find free sample letters here.

eric, debtstinker is right. In your situation with various debts, go ahead and call the debtcc phone number 1-800-601-1579. They'll have a financial coach who can get your information and point you in the direction best suited for your situation. :D

I talked to one and I can't remember who it was that only needed $3000 in active debts. If they were old charged off then there had to be at least $5000 of debt. Call the 800 number to the right if they can't help they will probably be ablte to refer you to someone who can.

pyb, so there is a difference to these companies if they're "active" or "charged off"? What if you wanted to pay the "charged off" ones also? Or is this a really dumb question?

I also have a question in here. We are doing debt settlement and we are with a company, but a few of our accounts were too small to include, but we had problems paying them. Is it possible to negotiate a settlement without a settlement company for those smaller ones?

Cannr, When I talked to them they said the old ones that were charged off could be included but the total amount of debt had to be higher. I don't understand why. I guess it is harder to handle the older ones sometimes they want a higher amount to make it worthwhile.

Billy, Call the smaller ones and tell them you would like to work a settlement. Have in mind the amount that you can afford to pay before calling them. offer them a smaller amount than you can afford and see what they come back with. Sometimes you would be suprised what they would accept. Most of the time you can get them to settle for what you can afford, as long as you are reasonable. They aren't going to accept $50 for a $3000 debt.

Yeah that's understandable. For the ones that's in my husband's name can I do that too or does he have to do it? Also we have some small ones that's in both names. I just want to have all of my facts straight before I get on the phone.

Welcome to the Comunity eric :D As Eleroo said, you can do this yourself if you are dealing with a small amount of debt.

I did what eleroo said- I had alot of small debt. I put as much extra as I could toward the smallest debt extra a month. I paid that off, and put that payment towards my next smallest debt, along with its payment, and so on. I,too, had called the cc companies and told them I was trying to pay them off and could they lower or drop my interest so I could, some said yes. We also did the 2 job deal for quite some time.

Just be sure and get any payment arrangements in writing before you send a payment, along with them saying this will be paid in full, if you can.


Billysgirl- Some of the creditors would talk to me about my husbands account, some would not. I told them that I was the one paying bills, and if they wanted money they better talk to me!

You can negotiate for a settled amount with them- but it will most likely be reported as settled for less, or something in that nature-get it in writing!!..karen

At this point it doesn't matter what it says on the credit report. Better to say settled for less than not paid or still owes...lol For the ones that we have in settlement I still haven't gotten any collection notices yet and the settlement company said that they need those. I can't wait until the calls to my husbands job stops.

I have a similiar problem as erict. I have about $6,500 in debt and have lost my job. I have decided to take money from my 401K to pay my cars off and the credit debt above (I know that everyone will say I shouldn't do that but I just feel better doing this). I want to "negotiate" but no one will talk to me about my credit card debt because I am not "past due 90 days". This seems ridiculous to me. I know that credit debt companies do this all the time why won't they talk to the actual debtor about this. Seems very stupid to me.

Additionally, do the car companies work with people to negotiate a lower amount due? Does anyone know how this works?

Wersey, have you closed the accounts? You need to close the account before you can try to negotiate a settlement. If you plan to keep using these accounts then you're better off explaining your situation and asking for a reduction in interest for a lower payment until you're back on your feet. If you are showing them that you are able and willing to pay then they want the full amount. Why would they negotiate a lower payment if there is no fear that they will lose out on the money? Once an account is 90 days past due it's saying that the consumer is having trouble paying the debt and they are either not going to pay it at all or it will be a long time before they get their money.

Great thread....

Like Eric, I have about $3400 in debt, for several smaller accounts. The interest rates are high and the fees are ridiculous. I'm now late on two of them and cannot afford the minimum due at this point, so I'm stuck and avoiding the never ending calls. :(

Great info here, very helpful...

I'm glad you came here to find help. This community has helped me more than I'm sure they know. I'm glad I can finally pass on some knowledge that I know.

why not disconnect the internet that you all are using and put that money toward your bills??? which is more important???

For some of us we need to use the internet to work. Like myself. And the cheap free dial up internet will not work for the kind of work that I do. But thanks for the suggestion.

Hey Stacy, I hope you're able to work something out with your creditors to your advantage, and really theirs too. It's tough...I was watching Oprah the other day (imagine that i'm a stay at home momma ;) and that Suzanne Ormand (sp?) was on. she had a very very interesting concept...in this thread we're thinking that paying off our smaller debts will work AND IT will if you're disciplined and have the extra to go towards your debt. She, however, suggested paying (if you have the cash to do so) off the highest interest card first...she said the more principal we have on those higher interest cards and lets say we pay on our smaller balances with maybe a lower interest, the more interest is going to pile up. I think where she was coming from is if you have the cash to pay it off pay off your higher ones first not the lower. very interesting. I know that it made sense for me to pay my little ones off first and to put my extra towards those as there were many times (including now thanks to a huge auto repair this week) that I just don't have the money to pay in full.

It's really tough to pay off the bigger ones. It feels like we've accomplished something when we pay off the little ones. Like one less thing to pay on... I am still getting the calls, but now we have finally started to receive some collection letters in the mail. So on to the settlement company with these so they can stop the calls and get a negotiation worked out. We are still barely hanging on and of course I've been trying to think of more ways to help our situation. I'm glad everyone is still around. Thanks again for helping me stay positive!!

Hang in ther!!It does take time and work- but it can be done!!

I,too, had to start paying the smaller ones off first-I get too discouraged,too quickly, if I see no progress.

I sent every penny I could scrape up and sent it toward my smallest bill, along with the regular payment, until it was paid, then took that payment, added it to the next, and so on.

There were several years of two jobs, but it was worth it in the long run

Good Luck-we are here to support you!..karen

Hey everyone. Here's a big thing for you. I checked my messages on my phone today and there was a message from some man. He said he was Investigator Rich Franklin calling from Travis County phone number 512-340-0493*12, and that I needed to call him immediately. He also said that I've been legally notified and good luck. There's not a Travis County in my state, and the only thing that I could think that this was about was some bill. Though the only bills I have in my name are the credit card bills which are all in our debt settlement program. I don't have any payday loans out in my name, and the two we had in my husbands are illegal in our state and we paid back what we borrowed. Can anyone help? I have not been out of Maryland or the Delmarva area in years.

billys, scare tactic. I don't know from WHO, but scare tactic. "Legally notified" and "good luck"??? What the hell? Talk about some idiot sitting on his couch making phone calls, Good Lord!

Yeah really... I looked it up on this report a number that called you site and the people that posted comments there said that this very same guy called them and said that they owe for a pdl. I don't have any pdls. I made my mistakes a long time ago with those and then my husband and I out of extreme desparation took on one (but ended up being given two somehow) and that was all paid off. The guy asked for me in my married name at that and when I had my personal pdl's it was in my previous married last name. So that's another way of telling that he's full of you know what...