Ditching the CC bills...

[wvjules]

OP, in another thread I saw that you belong to a credit union. Have you tried getting a debt consolidation loan from them?

CUT UP THE CREDIT CARDS NOW UNTIL YOU GET OUT OF THIS MESS!!!!!!!!

 

[SandrA9810]

Well my final post for this topic...

1: I am looking for a job, I'm hoping this holiday season will turn out better than last year.

2: All we can afford is to pay the minimum balances. And it's barely making a dent. It'll be another year or so before one even gets paid off so I can roll over. We don't use the CC anymore. We only have one card that isn't shredded and the limit is 300$, but I opted out of their interest rate increase, so that one's closing anyways in July.

3: I coupon like crazy. I don't spend more than I save. The last time I went to the store I spent 12$ and saved 15$. We live off of box mac and cheese and plain pasta. Always bought buy one get one free. And Kari lives off lender's bagels (6 for a buck). The only thing I can't save on is gas prices, but I try to limit any driving I do.

4: We've already paid the full deposit on our apartment. And we also have a room-mate on the lease, which makes it even better. We still got the apartment based on Kari's app only, so I"m not worried. I just don't want to move.

5. My plan is to take the first paycheck each month and pay every bill off. Then every week after a certain amount is set aside for rent, I'll send the remainder to one of the 4 cards and rotate so they don't get any late fees. And the 2 remaining ones will be the only ones getting late fees tacked on. And those two I want closed any ways, so I'd be willing to do a debt settlement with them.

6. CCCS would only reduce our min payments by 50$ in total. (Ex only: we send 300 a month in min payment... they would reduce it to 250 a month... not 50$ off each bill.)

Thanks for all the replies from those who have done something like this or has helped some one in this situation.

 

[andrews_dad]

This Dizzer board is not the place to post this question. First, the folks here might be happy when it comes to the Happiest Place on Earth but many (as you can already see) are judgemental, opinionated, and likely tospew out info on things they are not familiar with. I'd find an internet forum hosted by experts on debt and financing and post there.

I have a relative who racked up huge CC bills and years and years of unpaid back taxes. He hired a company to help and paid PENNIES on the dollar of what he owed, including the fed and state taxes. In the end, he made out MUCH better than the rest of us who do the right thing and pay on time. You dug yourself into a hole, I would pull whatever strings and loopholes I could to get out of it if I were you. Good luck and ignore the haters up here.

 

[wvjules]

This Dizzer board is not the place to post this question. First, the folks here might be happy when it comes to the Happiest Place on Earth but many (as you can already see) are judgemental, opinionated, and likely tospew out info on things they are not familiar with. I'd find an internet forum hosted by experts on debt and financing and post there.

I have a relative who racked up huge CC bills and years and years of unpaid back taxes. He hired a company to help and paid PENNIES on the dollar of what he owed, including the fed and state taxes. In the end, he made out MUCH better than the rest of us who do the right thing and pay on time. You dug yourself into a hole, I would pull whatever strings and loopholes I could to get out of it if I were you. Good luck and ignore the haters up here.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the reason the banks are rate jacking good customers, adding more fees, making borrowing more difficult, etc.

Oh and if you want ot visit an internet forum on debt and financing, try creditboards.com

No one there will advise you do let all of your payments go on all of your debt.

 

[Suz D]

6. CCCS would only reduce our min payments by 50$ in total. (Ex only: we send 300 a month in min payment... they would reduce it to 250 a month... not 50$ off each bill.)

But it is my understanding from what others have posted here that it will reduce your total monthly payments by $50.00 PLUS it may reduce your interest rates and forgive some late fees. All of that totalled together would reduce the amount of time you have to spend paying off these debts.

I'm having a hard time not being judgemental on this because heaven knows I've gotten in way over my head when I was younger, but I honestly thing that this type of thing is what helped create the financial mess we are all dealing with now.

Anyway, does my first paragraph make sense? I don't think there is any way you are magically going to go from $300.00/month to $100.00/month.

 

[RitaE]

That's all really good Sandra but to be honest.
You cannot coupon your way out of a no income situation. CCCS told you that you needed to increase your income - because you have no income. You can't pay any money ... until you have money. Your problem isn't that you eat too much. Or that you spend too much on your mac and cheese dinners.

You are woman of sound mind and body -- working age. To tell you the truth, this credit card thing you have going on is your immediate problem, but it isn't even your biggest problem.

Long term. You are not saving anything for retirement and you are not doing anything to earn a Social Security benefit of any sort. Politics aside, you are not married to your partner. You will not get spousal benefits from Social Security.

You have got to get going here girl - I'm not kidding.

 

[PinkRhombus]

This Dizzer board is not the place to post this question. First, the folks here might be happy when it comes to the Happiest Place on Earth but many (as you can already see) are judgemental, opinionated, and likely tospew out info on things they are not familiar with.

Well...this IS the BUDGET section of these boards...some of us do give a rats behind about the financial side of our lives. And not all of us are obsessive-compulsive on going to Disney.

I am opinionated. I hold people to high standards. It's not about being perfect...it's about excellence. No reason to settle for being at the bottom of the barrel. OR treating your partner, spouse, family like they're not worth it. At that point, the worst is all you deserve because it's all you've given.

 

[Chicago526]

You are woman of sound mind and body -- working age. To tell you the truth, this credit card thing you have going on is your immediate problem, but it isn't even your biggest problem.

Long term. You are not saving anything for retirement and you are not doing anything to earn a Social Security benefit of any sort. Politics aside, you are not married to your partner. You will not get spousal benefits from Social Security.

You have got to get going here girl - I'm not kidding.

Can I get an "amen"?

Financial planning is cruicial for anyone, but it's especially critical for same gender partners as they don't get all the legal/financial protections as marriage offers. Do either of you have life insurance? medical insurance? disability insurance? power of attorney? advance medical directives? a will? While your immediate problem is credit card debt and of course is your 1st priority, usually when people let the debt get out of control, they aren't making other sound financial choices either, and that can and will have long term consequences.

If you have all of that in place already, great. If not you need to start thinking about it, and getting as much in place as possible as soon as you are able to. Take life insurance for example, you are depending on your partner's income, but heaven forbid, what if she dies sudenly? Without life insurance you'll have zero income and without a will, you aren't entitled to inherit any of her assets (if she has any). If she becomes disabled, without disability insurance you're without any income, without medical insurace her medical bills will stack up and she may not be able to get the treatment she needs, without power of attorney and/or advance medical directives, her family (not you!) gets to decide her treatment if she isn't competant, heck you may have to beg them for visiting time if they don't approve of you or your lifestyle, as they have the right to keep you away from her...the dominos don't end on this.

And as RitaE pointed out, you need to make sure you take care of YOU, too. That means working enough to qualify for SS benifits (not just retirement, but disability too) and saving for your own retirement. Do you want to spend your retirement living hand to mouth? Because without retirement savings, that's what it will be like to only have SS money in your golden years.

I'm sorry if it seems like we're all jumping on you, but for most of the posters, it's because we genuinely don't want to see a fellow diser make huge mistakes that have very big and very long term consequences.

Whatever choice(s) you make, I do wish you luck.

 

[bumbershoot]

I think that instead of running around the bag of junk you should set up a delivery service of people that want to mail boxes to themselves. You don't want a real hard working job and this would have you out and interacting with DISers on at WDW.

I really like the "Disney errand person" idea. Especially with so many people using ME they could use someone local who could make a trip to Publix or CVS for them. You could call it "Thanks, Sandra!" and advertise here.

Loving those ideas.

My aunt lives in Port Orange, and I keep thinking of using her place as a sort of future WDW storage (because she and her daughter and daughter's family are disney fans and would join us, and we'd likely visit her city too)...a cousin lives in Orlando and if we were closer (in relationship) I would definitely ask her to shop around for me. You could be like everyone's local cousin. Just price your time and gas right!

No, no, no. They cannot go back to the cozy way they were living. That is what got them into this mess to begin with.

Spending on credit cards got them into the mess. Not just having one person at home and one person working. If having the OP home works for them, then why do they need to change that, once they get everything paid off, with all credit cards closed? They might still have a very low income, but without all those payments they'll be in a MUCH better place than they are now. They'll be able to live a cash lifestyle and it will be better.

Plus, it's probably far LESS motivating to think "I'll have to do this forever" than to think of it as a short term plan.

 

[AftertheSunset]

The OP is famous for her "I realized that working was not my thing". She also will tell the SO how many hours she has to work to pay their bills. A 20 something may not like to work but still may need to work. The OP needs to work. IIRC she once stated they live on $20K to maybe $25K per year. The only way to pay that stuff off is to get a job.

The OP is not even applying for jobs, she has no desire to get a job. That's why everyone is saying get a job.

Sorry, but I don't keep a notebook full of previous posters life histories. I had no idea about her previous history, nor do I really care. Regardless if she wants a job or not doesn't change the fact that it isn't EASY to GET a job nowadays.

BKY - stays on your credit 7-10 years and now getting credit the first 3 years after filing...dicey at best.

Lauri

While a bankruptcy stays on your credit report for 7-10 years, not getting credit is not true at all. I suggest you read bkforum.com. People are getting credit a day after bankruptcy, getting car loans months after bankruptcy discharge and are also buying homes within months after discharge.

Normal Fannie Mae guidelines for a mortgage after bankruptcy is 2 years.

Apparently WDW IS hiring parttime help - because a friend of mine has an interview soon.

I would double check that. I have a cousin who works for Disney and I just called her. The entire Disney Corp. has a mandatory hiring freeze until further notice. She even tried to get my other relative in a few months back and couldn't.

 

[bluesaturn]

Sorry, but I don't keep a notebook full of previous posters life histories. I had no idea about her previous history, nor do I really care. Regardless if she wants a job or not doesn't change the fact that it isn't EASY to GET a job nowadays.

I didn't have my handy dandy notebook with me today, but it was mentioned multiple times in this thread that this poster is well known around these parts for not wanting a job. Point taken that getting a job is much harder now than it used to be, I agree with you there. However, not looking for a job makes it infinitely harder to ever get one. That seems to be the missing piece in this case.

 

[Ava]

Can I get an "amen"?

Financial planning is cruicial for anyone, but it's especially critical for same gender partners as they don't get all the legal/financial protections as marriage offers. Do either of you have life insurance? medical insurance? disability insurance? power of attorney? advance medical directives? a will? While your immediate problem is credit card debt and of course is your 1st priority, usually when people let the debt get out of control, they aren't making other sound financial choices either, and that can and will have long term consequences.

If you have all of that in place already, great. If not you need to start thinking about it, and getting as much in place as possible as soon as you are able to. Take life insurance for example, you are depending on your partner's income, but heaven forbid, what if she dies sudenly? Without life insurance you'll have zero income and without a will, you aren't entitled to inherit any of her assets (if she has any). If she becomes disabled, without disability insurance you're without any income, without medical insurace her medical bills will stack up and she may not be able to get the treatment she needs, without power of attorney and/or advance medical directives, her family (not you!) gets to decide her treatment if she isn't competant, heck you may have to beg them for visiting time if they don't approve of you or your lifestyle, as they have the right to keep you away from her...the dominos don't end on this.

And as RitaE pointed out, you need to make sure you take care of YOU, too. That means working enough to qualify for SS benifits (not just retirement, but disability too) and saving for your own retirement. Do you want to spend your retirement living hand to mouth? Because without retirement savings, that's what it will be like to only have SS money in your golden years.

I'm sorry if it seems like we're all jumping on you, but for most of the posters, it's because we genuinely don't want to see a fellow diser make huge mistakes that have very big and very long term consequences.

Whatever choice(s) you make, I do wish you luck.

Amen!

As a fellow DISer in a same-sex relationship, I second everything Chicago526 said. You and your partner need to protect yourselves legally & financially, because when it comes down to it, the goverment does not legally recognize your partnership. If you are to the point where you consider yourselves as good as married (i.e. you plan to be together for life) you should work toward getting some legal protections in place. Once you get this credit card mess sorted out and you are in a better place financially, I highly suggest finding a lawyer and getting a medical power of attorney & a will drawn up for both of you. You should also name each other as the beneficiary on any insurance you have.

Good luck with everything.

 

[Planogirl]

Using a consumer counseling agency can hurt your credit but if you already have collections or chargeoffs (or they seem inevitable), I personally think that using them can be wise. Only you know your circumstances though. Some creditors will NOT work with you, been there done that with one.

Do try to pay your bills in the best way possible. Visit the credit boards and work through this. Someday you'll be glad that you did.

 

[NancyIL]

I would double check that. I have a cousin who works for Disney and I just called her. The entire Disney Corp. has a mandatory hiring freeze until further notice. She even tried to get my other relative in a few months back and couldn't.

I just called my friend, and she has an appointment on Friday to discuss "employment opportunities" at WDW - whatever that means.

 

[wdwfan16]

Sorry, but I don't keep a notebook full of previous posters life histories. I had no idea about her previous history, nor do I really care. Regardless if she wants a job or not doesn't change the fact that it isn't EASY to GET a job nowadays.

It is hard to forget a person who states that work is not her thing. No need for a notebook.

She lost her job may moons ago when it would have been easier to get a job. But she did not want one and did not apply.

Now the economy is worse, but there is the TRU that I mentioned, and it is harder to get a job.

If she lost her job last week I would completely agree with you but the is not the case.

 

[dvcgirl]

That's all really good Sandra but to be honest.
You cannot coupon your way out of a no income situation. CCCS told you that you needed to increase your income - because you have no income. You can't pay any money ... until you have money. Your problem isn't that you eat too much. Or that you spend too much on your mac and cheese dinners.

You are woman of sound mind and body -- working age. To tell you the truth, this credit card thing you have going on is your immediate problem, but it isn't even your biggest problem.

Long term. You are not saving anything for retirement and you are not doing anything to earn a Social Security benefit of any sort. Politics aside, you are not married to your partner. You will not get spousal benefits from Social Security.

You have got to get going here girl - I'm not kidding.

Yep, this is really what it comes down to...

 

[MiniGirl]

Spending on credit cards got them into the mess. Not just having one person at home and one person working. If having the OP home works for them, then why do they need to change that, once they get everything paid off, with all credit cards closed? They might still have a very low income, but without all those payments they'll be in a MUCH better place than they are now. They'll be able to live a cash lifestyle and it will be better.

Plus, it's probably far LESS motivating to think "I'll have to do this forever" than to think of it as a short term plan.

You misunderstood me. I never said having one person at home is what got them into this mess. Spending more than they make is what did it. In the OP's original post, she makes it sound as if this has happened before. That makes overspending a lifestyle. After they get out of this mess, they cannot go back to THAT cozy lifestyle of overspending or they will find themselves right back in the same situation.

 

[wdwfan16]

OP here is a thread that states that UPS is hiring for the holiday season and is paying $12/hr.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2302420


If you worked 20 hours per week for 12 weeks you would gross $2880. Work 40 hours and you gross $5760.

 

[AftertheSunset]

I didn't have my handy dandy notebook with me today, but it was mentioned multiple times in this thread that this poster is well known around these parts for not wanting a job. Point taken that getting a job is much harder now than it used to be, I agree with you there. However, not looking for a job makes it infinitely harder to ever get one. That seems to be the missing piece in this case.

Again, who flippin' cares? Honestly? I really can't believe some people actually remember this stuff about what other posters think about getting a job. I can barely remember what I wore yesterday. I don't have time to remember information on other posters so I can use it for future judgement.

It wouldn't matter if she wanted a job more than anything in this world right now...she's not going to get one. Absolutely no one is hiring.

It is hard to forget a person who states that work is not her thing. No need for a notebook.

She lost her job may moons ago when it would have been easier to get a job. But she did not want one and did not apply.

Now the economy is worse, but there is the TRU that I mentioned, and it is harder to get a job.

If she lost her job last week I would completely agree with you but the is not the case.

I really find it hard to believe that grown adults actually take time out of their day to remember stuff about other posters. Seriously. On a message board, of all places.

I really could care less if Joe Schmo posting after me wants a job or not. I don't have time for childish non-sense such as that.

I have a relative who lost her job almost 2 years ago, doesn't want another job, but applies for several weekly just to earn her unemployment. She has debt like everyone else. Now, should I go and judge her because she really doesn't "want a job in her heart"? No, it's her own dang business, none of mine. I don't walk in her shoes, so I can't even begin to judge her and her life.

As for TRU, can you imagine how many people are going to apply? Aren't we at the nation's highest unemployment rate in the last 30 years? There is going to be so many applicants, eager to work. I will bet you anything that TRU is overwhelmed.

Again, I wish the OP luck in her situation. Unfortunately, you are not alone in today's economy.

 

[tar heel]

OP -- your idea is CRAZY. In the current credit environment, it will almost for certain get you in a worse mess than you're in now. It sounds like CCS gave you valid advice, but that you ignored it b/c it was not what you wanted to hear.

You absolutely have to find a job. That's what us adults do. From what you've said in the past, I understand that you do not have a good job history and have been fired (from Disney even -- right). This means you will have to work harder to find a job and that you may have to take a really lousy one. There must be jobs where they don't do a lot of reference checking -- I'll admit to not knowing what they are, but you should be spending at least eight hours a day looking for employment.

Eva gave you some wonderful advice, too.

You also must stop spending TODAY. This means you can't afford to supply a suitcase of stuff for people visiting Disney. You also can't afford to deliver the supplies that have already been bought. Of course, if you could make this into something you get paid for, that would be a different situation.