What am I supposed to do?

[CajunDixie]

should opt out with all the credit bureaus i.e. keep them from selling your information.

How do you go about doing that?

 

[picantel]

1-888-567-8688) or 1-888-5-OPTOUT

Keeps you from getting all those preapproved offers and keeps the CRAs from selling your information. Of course, they do it anyway sometimes so nothing is 100% guarenteed.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I'm sorry you are going through this Intense.
I, as a few other posters, see more than a few red flags in your story that hint you and your husband may not be making the best financial decisions.

It is true that some Credit Collection Agencies are unethical, but it is also true that even without this particular bill, you seem to be struggling. Having store charge cards at their limit and 60 to 90 days late is a huge red flag and I have to imagine is stressful for you. Posting things like -- "we're doubling on payment X this month and not Paying Payment Y in order to keep them off our back...." those just aren't logical moves. Planning a budget off of what you hope a future salary might be, is a roadmap to disaster.

I personally would consider contacting a good, reliable CCCS agency and working with them on a budget and solid plan. You might also want to visit your library and get your hands on one of the more reliable Authors -- Larry Burkett or Dave Ramsey etc -- and reading a couple of their books.

 

[danacara]

I totally agree with TF. I also wonder if some therapy might be in order here for your family, once your medical insurance issue is resolved. The repeated firings, the financial choices, the repeated descent into debt ... these are symptomatic of some deeper issues that you might be able to resolve with some help.

Also, do you have a budget? Do you know, literally, where every penny is going at this point? If not, start today.

 

[picantel]

99% of CCCS agencys just steal your money and ruin your credit. what they fail to point out is you get a little notation on each of your credit tradelines which reads 'under CCCS' and this is as bad as bankruptcy to a creditor. First off they take your first payment. Then it takes them 2-3 months to start paying your creditors if they even do it to begin with. This means you get a nice 90+ day late notation on your credit file which means you are done getting credit for about 5 years.

 

[jkovick]

picantel-- you have given some good advice, however, credit counseling no longer impares your credit score and is in no way as bad as bankruptcy. Several years ago the penalty (score wise) was removed from the scoring process. Yes there are some bad supposed "credit counselors" but there are many fine ones that are nationally accreditied.

 

[picantel]

what makes you think a score even matters? It puts a cccs notation on file. I guarentee creditors look at this as bad as they look at a BK. This is what I do. I am a consumer protection advocate 50+ hours a week. All volunteer. Trust me- I know what I am talking about. I have seen 1000+ posts on people that got screwed by CCCS whether it was theft, ruination of their credit, or have the cccs notation keep them from getting anything. Next you are gonna tell me ameridebt is a good clean company. hahaha. Well heck they advertise all the time.

 

[jkovick]

I run a credit union. I look at credit everyday. I also deal with collections everyday. We refer our members to credit counceling often with very positive results. Yes there are predatory "agencies" out there that are looking to make $$ off of others misfortunes-- but they are a minority.

It's my profession--- that's how I know.

 

[picantel]

CCCS companys work for creditors and that is who their loyalty is to- not the consumer. The positive results are that your company gets their money and the consumer gets the crappy credit rating. The CCCS either takes the consumers money and runs or make an obcene amount of cash ripping off the consumer. I fail to see the logic in that.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

I wish I could say I did not choose this path, but essentially it is my fault for helping to create the debt we have. Up until December, bills were being paid, some a week late (do you know how many co.'s charge late fees these days?). I wasn't 60-90 days late then and I asked to have dates changed to help manage our budget. Some cooperated, others didn't.

While my income has steadily increased over the years (I've been with the same co. for 12 yrs now), DH has had a rough few months (okay, years) He's maintained employment over the years but last year was not good. He was penalized $1/hour at his previous job last summer. The $1/hour wasn't too much of a downfall, we continued to manage. Losing that job in November (not a result of the lost wages) really has set us back. Never think your job is secure. He was ready to quit and begin to look elsewhere, so in a way it was a blessing. The hours were terrible (might well have been 24/7), was never available for family functions and was treated like scum even though he did more than expected. He only hoped to have secured new employment before they dropped the axe.

For a month he searched for a new job, without any luck and without income. He finally applied for work through an agency and was hired at a top manufacturing co. in the area at the end of Dec., for less money than he had been making. In late January, when our future was starting to look bright again, he hurt his hand (fortunately not broken) on the job. He was out for a week, which was not long enough to collect Worker's Comp. benefits, so no income. The day after he went back to work, he was told he was not needed on the job, and co. further cut ties with the agency he was working through. For two weeks the service tried to find work, but found nothing full-time. He went to another agency working a day here or there for a week or two. Between my cancelled club accounts and income tax refund everyone received a payment in January or February. I was pretty much on top of things again, for about a month.

DH to McDonald's at the end of February, knowing it would be easy to get hired. He worked there a few years ago as an asst. manager and left on good terms to take on the job above, with higher earning potential. He's had to start as regular crew (standard procedure) for $7/hour - a cut of at least $3/hour from last perm. job. Soon, they will be opening a new location and he will be moved to the manager's position. In the meantime we are making due on the lower income. He's actively looking elsewhere for something else.

So here we are. Our future looks bright (somewhere in the distance). Am I the optimist or what? We've lost at least two months of income in the past 6 months and I'm left trying to figure out how to make ends meet again. Another past-due debt will be paid off this September and our car will be paid off next March, so I will have more cash flow before long. I am so tired of being in this state of affairs. I have a couple of charge cards whose balances are dwindling. Then there are those, like the one I posted about in the OP, that I can't seem to handle. I started this thread looking for help from my the DIS. Maybe it wasn't the right place to voice my problems. Agree or disagree with my situation, help me or hate me, I just needed a place to present my situation to people who I thought could offer support, advice or understanding.

Thanks to everyone for your insight. I appreciate your taking the time to add your 2-cents. You've made me think and re-think what is wrong with our money-management skills. The problem right now, lack of cash. We are working class citizens living paycheck to paycheck. Who knows, tomorrow I could be a millionaire! (My boss chipped in a dollar for me toward the Powerball drawing on Wed). If I was a betting person (with money to wager), I would have bet on Smarty Jones to win the Kentucky Derby, but then again, had I placed a bet the horse would have lost.

 

[picantel]

You do not need to defend yourself. Whatever happened to you is nobodys business but yours. My biggest pet peeve is when people judge others and overlook their own faults in the process. Ludicrous.

 

[C.Ann]

Originally posted by picantel
You do not need to defend yourself. Whatever happened to you is nobodys business but yours. My biggest pet peeve is when people judge others and overlook their own faults in the process. Ludicrous.

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I agree totally! No one is financially secure - no matter WHAT they think - no matter how well prepared they "think" they are - no matter how much they "think" they're financially savvy and have all their bases covered..

Life is not always kind...and the longer you live, the higher the odds that you'll face some sort of financial disaster along the way.. Don't kid yourselves into believing you have "all your bases covered.." Unless you're psychic, you have absolutely NO WAY of knowing what your future holds..

This poor woman came here looking for help.. She's already aware that some of her decisions may not have been the best.. She also explained situations that occured which were out of her personal control.. I don't think it's necessary to beat her up on top of everything else..

Sorry - but this totally ticks me off!

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iNTeNSeBLue98: You've been given some good advice here.. Sift through it and see what will work for you.. One step at a time - that's all it takes - and don't let anyone make you feel any worse than you already do!

Hugs,
C.Ann