increased payments

If I were you then I would have gone after the lower balance credit cards before settling the higher balance one since it'd make me debt free sooner. And not only that, my credit report would also start mending since more accounts would appear as ???settled???.

However, it's my personal suggestion. You may still hang around to hear from the experts of this board.

ok thanks

Agreed, except for the "settled" part. Debt Management is not the same as settlement.

The only problem I can see with this, however, is that if you start making larger payments, the creditors may decide that you are no longer in a hardship and will likely drop you from the DM and jack your interest rate way up. You can also hold on to your money, continue to save it, and only when you have the *total* balance of a card, release it from the DM program with CareOne and pay it off.

HOWEVER, that will show up on your credit report as paid in full (very good for your credit) but, if the other 2 creditors check your report regularly, they may notice that payoff, and drop you from the program and jack your APR up.

So, you have a tough decision to make here. Every month you are in the DM program, you are saving a *lot* of money in unnecessary usury so i feel you should let that one go as long as the creditors will allow it and save your money (do NOT be tempted to spend it). Eventually the creditors will drop you from the hardship program, at that time you will saved enough money to make sizable payments to all 3, which will increase your available balance, which increases your credit score (having your cards maxed is bad on your credit), which will have the effect of qualifying you for lower interest rates.

Personally, I would save the cash, and keep making the payments as you have been. In the current economy, having a savings buffer could only be a good thing.