I am overwhelmed

the best thing you can do for yourself at this point is to utilize what money you have to the BEST of its ability. This means you need a strict budget and stick with it. It???s your only lifeline at this point, and as I said earlier I speak from experience.

Figure out what money you have coming in for the month and try to come up with an exact dollar amount as possible. When you are low on funds every penny counts.

Next, you are going to pay NECESSITIES ONLY. The reason I wrote that in caps is because everyone has different ideas on what a necessity is. This caused many heated arguments in my marriage!

A necessity is something you need in order to live. Food, shelter, utilities, and transportation. Examine these necessities and see what can be trimmed from them. For example, food. (Food meaning GROCERY BILLS (eating out is not under food but under entertainment because it is a luxury). Some people say your grocery bill should be $100 per person per month???.but I find that figure insanely low. It can be done will careful planning and coupons but I???ve never ever been able to get anywhere near that figure. Utilities???see what can be cut. Cut your cable bill by getting rid of premium channels. Or get rid of cable all together. If you have a cell pone get rid of your landline. Make sure your cell phone plan fits your usage- don???t pay extra for a lot of minutes you never use. If your car payments are killer, consider selling the car.

After necessities are paid, take what???s left and distribute it among minimum payments to your credit cards and loan accounts that you???ve been paying.

Once minimum payments are met see what else you need to factor into your budget and look for missing categories.

Now that your budget is done see what figure you have left. You now have a few options with this figure.

If you have credit cards and loan accounts that you have defaulted on and have collection agencies/debt collectors chasing you on then you need to take this extra money and STOCK PILE it. Personally I wouldn???t put this into a bank because you don???t want your bank account seized. I couldn???t leave it in my house because I had no self control over cash. So I had my mother open an account in her name and I went and deposited my extra money from my budget weekly. With my name not on the account, I couldn???t withdraw it and spend it frivolously.

Now that you???ve made a budget and trimmed the extras you next goal is to bring more money it. Get a job at Mc Donalds or the local Pizzeria while you seek other employment. Head to the mall to see who is hiring. Get an early morning paper route.

Have yard sales. Sell on Ebay and Craigs List. Check Craigs List daily for items people are giving away for free and go grab them, then sell at your own yard sale. Return soda cans. Pick up every penny laying around the house and get a change jar going. Look for someone who needs a ???handy man???. Elderly people may be looking for someone to do their grocery shopping. People like to pay others to mow their lawn. Things like that.

Any money that you bring in will go into your stockpile. Let this stockpile grow; this will be what you will use to settle accounts with collection agencies.

When you receive a phone call from a collection agency, don???t answer. Instead, immediately send a DV letter to them. Make sure they have their proper papers in order. This takes a while, sometimes a few months! During that time your stock pile is growing. This is a good thing.

Once you went back ad forth with the collection agency and have all the proper documents, make an offer. I usually start very low. I take what the ending balance was when it was with the original creditor, deduct all the fees and interest that has be tacked on, then offer 25% of that balance. Low, yes but who cares. Let them counter offer. If the counter offer is too high, you can make another offer. Come up slightly. Point out that you have no assets and are trying to be reasonable. If you have to go back and forth with the collector a few times that is good because you are growing your stockpile of money???.aren???t you?

It???s a long process, but it works. It???s what I???ve been doing. Take it one day at a time???it get???s better!