Need suggestions on late credit card bills

[BignRichfan]

My husband was laid off for 1 month during december and I do not work due to illness. We have always paid our bills on time. We live paycheck to paycheck and have no savings and had to not pay some of our credit card bills to pay our most important bills since we had no income coming in. Now 2 of those bills have minimum payments of $178 and $138 because of late fees and over the limit fees. There is no possible way I can pay this at one time to catch up. Both of these cards have $3000 balances on them. I don't know what to do. I am not worried about what it will do to my credit as my credit already is as bad as it gets due to earlier circumstances, but I want to pay what I owe. If I say pay them only $50 which is more manageable for me they will hit me with another late fee and over the limit fee im almost sure and I will never get under the limit. Does anyone have any suggestions as what I can do besides shoot myself for getting in this mess to begin with. Thanks.

[shawni]

Are you enrolled in any kind of credit protection plan? They usually offer it for circumstances such as a job loss. I would call the company and see if they will work with you.

[sweeps]

I agree with shawni. Call the CC companies immediately. Tell them of your situation and ask them what can be done.

[ender513]

I agree that the best thing is to call the CC companies. If you let them know that you want to work on this debt, generally they'll at least give you another month to payoff the late balances (or work with you on setting up a payment plan). Your options will depend on how many times you've had late payments before, so you should be able to work with them if you say this isn't a normal thing for you and your account history backs that up.

It all depends on the rep you get though, so don't be afraid to hang up and call back to speak with someone else. Or ask to speak with a supervisor.

[Ima saver]

Calling seems to be the first solution, however, you need to generate some ideas as how to come up with extra money. Find something you can sell asap and get caught up.

[Fern]

If the cc companies dont' seem interested in negotiating with you, then spend $50 to meet with a credit counseling center. They will work to help you consolidate your credit card debt and might be more effective than you on your own.

[Ima saver]

Isn't there a nationwide credit counseling service that is free?? That would be a good idea.

[Fern]

yeah, i think some of them are free.

[flash]

I'll email my banker and ask!

[Ima saver]

I think it is consumer counciling service. They contact your creditors and work out a payment plan. Sometimes they can get interest rates lowered, late fees waived, etc.

[Ima saver]

Maybe consumer credit counciling. I sure a person good on computers can find out.

[locolorenzo24]

RIGHT NOW....STOP CHARGING ANYTHING! Call the CC companies and explain what's going on. Figure out a way to make extra money, do you or your husband have skills that could be used for pay? Could one of you take an extra job? Have a major garage sale? Sell stuff on Ebay? etc. etc. Pull up the straps, and try to get on top of it best you can.

[Snoopy2645]

Yes first call the companies 1 of the 2 may let you even skip a payment if you have a good history with them. I know when I had one of my daughters I didnt get a payment in the mail on time & I couldnt go down & pay it because of the weather & a new baby well I called the company & they said I can skip 1 payment. Also get your stuff together & sale something on ebay. For some reason when we are really really broke I can always find something thats no longer useful to me that will be of value to someone else on ebay. I wish you luck I think this is a bad time of year for everyone I know it is for my family!!

[Tree0164]

I agree stop charging. You are only going to make the balances go up.

I would do a budget. See if there is any wiggle room anywhere to put towards the credit cards. Eat rice and beans to help lower the food budget.

Also see if there is anythign in your home that you can sell. You can sell it on ebay or craigslist (no fees there)

Right now you have an income problem. Can your husband get a part-time job to help get through the next few months?

[Ima saver]

I visited a large family one time. The mother was babysitting for me at her home. The six children were eating dinner of macaroni and cheese and bread. I realized later, that they were so poor that was all they had to eat. I agree, eat as frugally as possible the next few months. Sell anything that you can.

[flash]

Originally Posted by BignRichfan

My husband was laid off for 1 month during december and I do not work due to illness. We have always paid our bills on time. We live paycheck to paycheck and have no savings and had to not pay some of our credit card bills to pay our most important bills since we had no income coming in. Now 2 of those bills have minimum payments of $178 and $138 because of late fees and over the limit fees. There is no possible way I can pay this at one time to catch up. Both of these cards have $3000 balances on them. I don't know what to do. I am not worried about what it will do to my credit as my credit already is as bad as it gets due to earlier circumstances, but I want to pay what I owe. If I say pay them only $50 which is more manageable for me they will hit me with another late fee and over the limit fee im almost sure and I will never get under the limit. Does anyone have any suggestions as what I can do besides shoot myself for getting in this mess to begin with. Thanks.

From my personal banker:

She should call the bank first to see if they can make hardship payment arrangements. Another option is to contact consumer credit counseling services. Here is the website. http://www.cccsintl.org/
I hope this helps.

She is a great resource. I hope this helps.

[Ima saver]

That is it; consumer credit counseling!! They are free and help a lot of people out. I think you have to give up your credit cards too.

[flash]

I wasn't even aware most banks had hardship payment arrangements. I agree with my banker, see what they can do for you first. It may be that simple.

[scott]

Have you ever considered going the debt settlement route? Debt settlement isn't for everyone though. It is meant for people who are burdened with overwhelming unsecured debt who are going through a legitimate financial hardship (loss of job, medical, etc). It's not meant for people who just dont feel like paying off their bills.

Debt settlement is the process of negotiating with creditors to actually reduce the balances that you owe. Let's say you are 20K in debt. With debt settlement, you may only pay back around 10K to get out of debt. There are companies out there who specialize in debt settlement.

I actually work for a company that does this type of work. If you want some more information, PM me. I'm not going to give out the company name because that could be considered spam. Debt settlement is just one option you have that I thought i should bring to your attention.

Let me know if you have any questions.

[BignRichfan]

I have not charged anything on these cards in awhile and do not ever intend to again.it's the interest and then like I said they nailed me with a late fee and then a over the limit fee because the late fee put me over the limit, which I don't think is right. I only have a problem with 2 of my credit cards now because my hubby is back to work and has gotten his first small pay so I was able to make the minimums on the others. The 2 I have a problem with now have a combined minimum payment of over $300 due in like 4 days and there is no way I can get that kind of money. I have a $450 car payment due that I only owe $3200 on and I am just in a heck of a mess. I do sell stuff on ebay,but only make a few bucks here and there. Also I tried credit counceling about 4 years ago and they screwed my accounts up so bad because they do not initially send your payments to the credit card companies so I would not go that route again. Hopefully I can figure it out. Thannks everyone for your help with this. I appreciate all your input.