We have $35,000 in credit card debt. Need help

Welcome to the forum! Why were you advised against credit counseling? Entering into a debt consolidation program can get the interest rates on your accts. lowered, and late and over limit fees waived. One affordable monthly payment is made to the debt consolidation company, and they disburse the payments to your creditors.

If you entered all of your details when you registered with this forum, a debt counselor should be contacting you shortly. They can discuss your situation and the options available.

My situation is similar to alyn013's. I forgot to make a payment on my Chase visa card and found it four days later. When I went online to make my minimum payment of $138, I was shocked to see that my minimum payment is now $644.92. Upon calling them, they told me my interest rate went from 8.99% to 29.99%. They added in all of the finance charges, which total to almost $200, plus the late fee of $39, and added the payment I just missed plus next month's payment)! She also said there's nothing I can do but make 6-12 ontime payments and MAYBE they'll bring it down again. I can't afford a 29.99% interest rate on a $7000 credit line. This seems to be a very knowledgeable forum so I wanted to see if anyone know of anything I can do?

belcab71, I would take advantage of the free call that you will be getting from a debt counselor. They deal with debt issues dailey and can negotiate with your creditors on your behalf. Please always check a companys reputation before you decide to do business with them. There are many legimate companies that can help. Best Wishes KYSIDE38

Chase is the worst of all companies to deal with. If you can deal with having this balance, here is what we did. They did that to us on a card we had a high balance on. We couldn't come close to making the payments. I managed to transfer every dime from that card onto others. Within days, there was a special offer on the card we had vacated where we could transfer to it for 3.9%. So guess what? All that balance went right back on that card.

I actually have the same amount of debt as the original poster. I have never made a late payment but my interest rates were maxed out due to my debt to credit line ratio(I was maxed out). I contacted Debt counseling whom contacted me and do to my particular needs didn't feel that was an option for me. Debt counseling goes on your credit report, your credit cards are canceled, and if your in this much debt your going to be paying for over or close to 7 yrs anyway so your better off filing bankruptcy and starting over in 7 yrs. Unless your in the market for incurring more debt like I was(wanted to by a home in the near future) then your kind of on your own to make a budget and stick with it highest interest card first. If you can transfer to lower rate card do it but do NOT use the empty card after for anything other than to take advantage of a special offer transfer rate!!!!

I also have more than $35,000 in credit card debt. We are able to make the minimum payments, so we aren't in default and don't have collectors calling, but we also can't keep from using the cards because making the monthly payments keeps us from making it month-to-month on our income. It is a frustrating cycle, and I just don't know what to do. I don't want to ruin our credit, but I can't find any solutions. Any ideas?

My husband and I are in the same boat. We were drowning in debt, were never late and sometimes made more than the minimum required payment. We went the settlement route and did have to go deliquent. This process is not for the weak particularly with the phone calls that are non-stop. We felt that it was our only option short of bankruptcy.

this website i found a few days ago it tells you everything about debt mangement programs just check it out so you know what to expect and how it works.

I would reccomend doing research on all methods that will get you out of debt. There are really only 4 besides paying the minimum payments or paying double payments to defeat interest. Consolidation, Credit Counseling, Settlement and Bankruptcy. All of these programs affect your credit in some way. Consolidation can affect your debt to income ratio which is already being affect with the debt you have. Credit Counseling and Settlement can show up on your credit report as a third party resolving your debts and Bankrupcy is the credit destroyer. Credit Counseling and Consolidation will ensure your payments are usually paid on time thus not affecting your payment history aspect of your credit. Settlement will get rid of your debt the fastest usually for the cheapest but does affect your payment history. If you are already late with your bills, settlement would be a good option to give you a plan to eliminate your debt.

Do your research though there are always frauds and scams in all industries. I wish you the best

I am in the same boat as all of you owe 40,000 in CC and tried the debt managment( payments the same as the CC payments) and debt solution companys(they get their half first by then the CC company is calling and wanting theirs) neither worked and I am now doing Bankruptcy which in the long run will be faster and easier for us. It took me 4 months to figure this out but its the best for us.[font=Arial][/font][font=Tahoma][/font][font=Symbol][/font][font=Arial][/font]

Bankruptcy is a fast solution but it does impact your credit negatively for at least 7-10 years. You can also be discriminated against if you are searching for jobs who do credit or background checks. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy will get you out of your debt immediately as alicat mentioned but everything cost something. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is a payment plan where you pay a trustee, attorney and creditors back. If you miss one payment in a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, you can be kicked out and will be stuck with handling your creditors on your own.

If you cannot afford to pay your mortgage and utilites, put food on the table and pay for transportation, then a bankruptcy would probably be in your favor. If you can afford your minimum payments, then Cosolidation or Credit Counseling might be an option. If you can't afford the minimum payments but you can afford around half of what your mimimum payments are, then settlement would probably work best.

If you do consider Bankruptcy, please only consider 7. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is a waste of time in most cases.

I was about 50K in credit card debt and I wanted to do the right thing and make my payments and keep good credit. I wish I knew about debt settlement then. After keeping the blood sucking credit card companies happy the last 2 years, I now owe 220K in credit card debt. Take it from me and stop paying now, they will call you and offer all kinds of great deals and say they want to help you anyway they can. If you keep paying on time, they will not do anything. I am now in the process of DIY settlement because BK is my only other option and I can always do that later if this does not work.