Is anyone as far deep in debt as this

Bankrutcy will damage your credit....but so will a debt management program. Since you will not be paying as agreed (your card holder agreements) your scores will tank major time. Plus you always run the risk of being sued while in the debt management plan.

You need to learn how to budget without using credit. Learn to live on a budget...cut out all the frills. You didnt get into debt overnight so you cannot expect to get out of it quickly. It is going to take hard work and sacrifices. Cut the eating out, starbucks and all those little things that add up. Cut excess cable charges, raise the deductible on your car insurance. Everything you cut can be applied to your debt. Shop for clothing second hand and USE COUPONS!!!

I'm already doing all that, and my scores have already tanked because I'm over 90 days past due on some accounts, last I checked my scores were 520-580.

Prior to losing my job and getting behind i had scores in the 750's which is how I got over extended in my credit cards.

I know there's no one else to blame and it is what it is, I'm just trying to make the right moves now and get out of this mess.

Help me understand.

In your first post, you have a job.

In your last post, you don't.

Which is it?

I am employed now, I was unemployed from feb-june, which is when i started getting behind and am just now beginning to be able catch up.

I think I can pay it back, but the thought of all of it, just makes me ill

I just need to get over it and move on and do the best I can, which is why I think a DMP would help.

Federally-guaranteed student load debt cannot be discharged in bankruptcy.

This is well known, and I never mentioned that's what I wanted to do. I was simply trying to give the full financial picture, but thanks for your insightful post.

Hi Shelley,

Assuming you would save 50% through settlement and experienced a 30% tax on the savings you would end up with roughly 10k owed in tax and paid 43k overall to be out of debt.

The DMP if completed will run you roughly 90k (calculating a monthly payment of 2.25 percent of total balances enrolled at 67k in a 60 month repayment plan - the current average payment concessions with many agencies would be equal to a monthly payment of 2.1% of combined account balances on the plan, so the total plan cost may be closer to 84k and does not include the national average of 1800.00 paid to the service provider over the life of the plan).

The above figures are just rough calculations. You could end up saving more in settlement which would marginally raise the tax hit.

If, as you indicated in another thread, you can only fund settlements setting aside money from monthly cash flow and you are limited to 850 set aside each month, and you settled all accounts at an average of 50% savings, it would take you roughly 38 months. This amount of time to complete a settlement plan is generally not a good idea. If however, you can be more aggressive in setting aside more money and could tap resources not associated with monthly income in order to settle accounts more rapidly, settlement could make sense for you even with the tax liability.

A poster on the other thread brought of the solvency test and how its application may prevent you from owing tax on some or all of the forgiven debt amounts. Do you own a home? Is it underwater? If so, by how much? Your 100k in student loan debt is a large liability and would be included in your solvency measurement.

Your post suggests you made your decision to consolidate. I do not wish to distract you from your commitment to enroll in a DMP. I would like to point out a few things, as this site is intended to not just answer and inform comment participants, but also site readers.
When committing to a DMP payment arrangement, be certain it is a payment that you can make monthly and on time all the time. If you miss a payment you risk losing all benefits of the plan (interest rate concessions) and having wasted time and resources trying to accomplish a repayment plan that may not have been suited to your current finances.

You did indicate that you are far enough behind in paying some accounts that you have been able to settle an account. This suggests you are at least behind 90 days with some creditors. Are you more than 6 months behind with any accounts? If so, there is little to no benefit to enrolling the charged off collection accounts into a DMP.

Given the little detail you provided, I estimate your DMP monthly payment to be somewhere around 1500.00. If this is a manageable amount for you to commit to paying each and every month - go for it.

If 1500 is not something you are confident you can do for the next 50 to 60 months and if you were to save up close to the 1500 each month and settle the accounts, I estimate it would take you roughly 22 months to complete settlements. This time frame is much more consistent with being successful using a settlement approach.

You asked for empathy and support in your post. I offer you both. Here is to your success no matter the path you choose.

shelley, before committing to any of your mentioned solutions, and ruling the tax issue as costly, here are a few tips on the tax issue:
1. do an internet search for the "insolvency worksheet", print it out and fill it out.
2. the worksheet does not have any place that you enter your income. there are 2 sections, one for all your assets (house, car, 401k/ira funds, $ in all bank accounts- cd's- savings-etc, all other items you own including your clothes-shoes, electronics, appliances, basically everything-- use fmv on large properties, and for car get the current value off kbb.com, everything else value at what you think you could sell it for on ebay, yardsale, etc.. total it all up. the other section is for liabilities (bills & payments), this includes every bill you owe, tiny bills to mortgage.. in re of mortgage you use the principal balance... this is a little tricky if you have an escrow account, as that can also included as a debt, but would go under "other" ,--and if you have a payment coming due that you have the billing for, you add the interest and pmi (if included in escrow), taxes and insurance they pay..
3. you would most likely be able to prove insolvency if you do not own enough property ( real and personal), that if you sold it all, you would be able to pay the debts off.
4. you add the total of assets listed in the section , then add the total of liabilities in that section. if the assets is more than the liabilities,you are not insolvent.. if the liabilities total more than assets, you are insolvent.. if insolvent, then subtract the total of the assets from the total of liabilites to find out the $ amount that you are insolvent. this is the total amount that can be "forgiven debt" (the amount all creditors combined can reduce your debts ), and if you have less than that amount forgiven, you are insolvent. you have to do a new insolvency form immediately before each settlement, to refigure your current insolvency amount...

Wow, I can't thank you enough!

what a helpful and informative post.

Let me try to clarify.

First of all, after much thought and consideration and research, I've decided to try and do the Dave Ramsey approach. I just can't see the point of consolidation, while I can afford the payment once I get my act together, I have more disposable income as the months go because I'm getting caught up.

DS just isn't going to work, it will take too long to save up the money, I have no other resources, I've sold nearly everything I own.

I'm about 3-4 months behind, but getting caught up and have made payment arrangements with just about everyone.

The only thing i can't pay right now are medical bills, totaling about 3-4k.

I already got a roommate and that has helped.

Regarding working PT, my hours are random nights/weekends already.

Ive looked and applied for about 30 jobs, everything from target to other random stuff. No luck yet, but i was using my professional resume which had nothing to do with the jobs I was applying for, so I've changed it and included other jobs I've had including retail and sales and collections. However, I'm not sure what to do about references, those jobs were years ago. I have friends that can vouch for me. I hate to lie but I feel its' the only way to get a PT job.

For example next week, I work 7am-7pm Mon-thurs, and 8am-6pm friday and 7pm-7am saturday, and 11pm-7am sunday

where is there time for a PT job? I come home, have a snack and go to bed. I dont go out, rarely spend a dime other than necessities.

If I could just make an extra $100/wk, I think it would help, I'm out of ideas of what I could do. I've looked on CL, they all seem scam like. I really could not deal with babysitting, which seems to be the only legit one on CL.

I'm open to any more suggestions.

I really appreciate the support.

Regarding insolvency, this is something I've not thought of, but I'm pretty sure I would be, like I mentioned I dont own anything except a car, my belongings would maybe be 2k, car is about 11k, that's it.
No 401k, already tapped that out. no other resources.

Again, though saving up enough for DS is next to impossible, the only reason i could settle this one car it was in charge off status, i negotiated a payment plan of 392 of 9 mos, on a 9k debt, i know that wont be possible with all of them, i figure one i get that paid off, I can work on the others more.

I've made a very detailed spreadsheet including due dates, overdue, int rates, etc. there's about 4 cards I can pay off in a month with low balances I can then add that to the next card, etc.

I think I've addressed everything, I do no own a house, or any other property other than the car.

any other advice, thoughts much appreciated

Shelley