Financial Challenges Support Group
This community is for people who are struggling to meet financial obligations of any kind. Financial challenges include everything from the day-to-day challenges of making ends meet to managing credit card debt to bankruptcy. Get support from others who are going through similar obstacles on the road back to financial stability.
I am seeking help because of my spiraling debt. It is over 20,000 dollars of unsecured debt and i don't know how to control it. I am 23 and I live at home while I go to school. I don't have a job and I live off of an allowance that my father gives me monthly and that is what covers needed things like gas and car insurance and what have you. I don't know what to do. I am depressed and have bipolar, which might explain some of my bad spending and horrible use of credit cards. I am borderline suicide because of this issue among others. Please give me your feedback.
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I invited Bill to have dinner with me last Sunday. He wasn't willing to drive 7 hours to mid Michigan and teased me with his beautiful ribs!!! So, of course I ate alone and had cedar salmon
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check out that smoke ring. It tasted really good. I smothered it with Maulls BBQ sauce which is Local to St. Louis and one of the best I ever had.....
Make an Excel spreadsheet listing each of your credit cards and the amount of interest you pay on them. Keep careful records of how much you are paying off--how much is capital and how much is interest. Until you tackle the core debt, you will get no where, but most of the time, we end up just tackling the interest.
The next step is going to be paying them off. Start with the card with the lowest amount of debt on it. make sure you make the minimum payment on each card, but try and put a little extra on that card each month, or even every time you have some cash available. It is easier now than it was. They do not charge you for paying by phone, or alternately, you can just walk into a bank and pay it. When I was paying off my cards, I would walk into the bank with small change and put it toward my card.
Consider consolidating. The best thing would be to get a personal loan from a family member/friend, and then pay them back at a much lower rate (no rate?). Do not go with a consolidation agency--I did, and found out that I was paying more to them than I was for the two cards I had used with them. Do speak to the credit card companies and see if you can get a payment agreement with them.
Find a paying job. Even if it is part time, if you can put a little bit toward the card each month, it will help.
Most importantly though. Cancel the cards. Most people have no idea what compounded interest does. It is a killer. Try playing around with this interest calculator to see how much you are paying, not on the debt, but on interest on the debt. http://math.about.com/library/blcompoundinterest.htm
Most people are just paying that interest, but until they start actually tackling the debt, they will remain trapped, owing money to the bank.
I agree w/ Oldnew about setting up a spending plan to help you get out of debt. I also recommend that you come clean w/ your dad about your debt, so help you come up w/ a budget and extra ways to earn money since he's helping you pay for school It might be hard to tell him, but it'll be much easier to hear coming from you instead of a collection agency.
Lastly, you can also try to call all your creditors to see if you can negotiate a lower payment plan or try to lower some of your interest rates.
I know its not easy, but try to hang in there You're definitely not alone :) Good Luck!