$40k of debt...where do I begin??

You have come to the right place for help. There are alot of knowledgable people on here that will help guide you through this maze. Have you spoken to someone from this site? If not get in touch with them and they can help yu decide on your options. Check out any company that you may hire with the bbb to make sure that they are legitimate. Good luck

ladybug

in my opinion you are on the right track. but just be careful about the different companies. check them out carefully before you sign up. and keep informed on your progress even if it is a setback. we will support you all the way. :hug:

Don't jump to the first thing you find out there. Make sure you take a little bit of time to research and be informed.

Second, try to contact your debtors directly and ask for a reduction of interest(keep asking).

Keilly

Absolutely research...have you contacted your creditors to see if they'll work with you to reduce your payments? being that you haven't gone the consolidation route yet, and it looks like you still have the option to pay on your own, you may want to do this if you haven't yet. you may be surprised...I know i've called my companies and told them that i just don't have the money to pay and more often than not they'll not only lower my monthly payment, they'll lower my interest too so more debt doesn't accumulate.
So.. this is not to say that you shouldn't consolidate...it's just an option should you choose not to.
Now...with consolidation it's a great thing. It's good that you've contacted companies but be sure to check with the BBB on your own to see if they're reputable. I used Money Management International and strongly advocate this company. never had a bit of problems iwth them. With whatever company you go with you'll have a personal counselor and you tell them your financial situation and they'll work out a payment plan with you and your creditors. It's so nice because you just have that one monthly payment which includes the company's fee but that fee is so minimal compared the the debt! so good luck, pick a good company, and research. You're young yet and are very fortunate to have such a good start! once you can pay these debts off, you can start saving for your future. You are very smart and have good direction. good luck

A debt settlement company is different than consolidation and will destroy your credit. Basically they quit paying your credit card bills until the CC company gives in and settles. This does reduce the total amount you pay but it comes at the price of drastically lowering your credit score which will affect your ability to get loans for a house. You can ruin your credit on your own and settle the debt on your own without paying a settlement company a bunch of money to do it for you. If a person is more than 1-2 years out on saving money to settle unsecured debt I think this is the best option. Lets take your situation for example. You could maintain your good credit rating and pay off 10k in debt per year for the next four years and be debt free with a good rating. The other option is you pay off around 20k in two years with a bad credit score. It takes you another 2 years to repair your score but in that two years you also saved 20k. Some people would disagree with this morally. I think the moral crime was committed when the CC gave you all that money to begin with when you were a college student and had no money. Another bad drawback to taking this route is you have to start dealing with collectors which can be mentally draining.

thanks so much for your responses. i got a call from someone on this site today and was encouraged to apply for another cc that has a 0% balance transfer offer. well i did and i was approved...but idk what line of credit i was given. i was asked to list the accounts that i wanted to transfer from and one of them is a bank of american unsecured loan for $17k that i applied for to consolidate debt about 8 months ago. it was a mistake getting that loan out but it's too late now. my concern is...how am i going to get that transfered to the new cc? i figured...i'm not going to buy anything other than food and gas and have no life for a year or two and pay this off on the new cc. i need to move forward!

i am definitely not going to go with the settlement companies...or consolidation companies. i did a substantial amoount of research last night and decided paying it on my own is my best option.