Best way to handle $12,000 credit card debt?

[92024]

I wouldn't do this. Typically, they will only work with you if you start missing payments. You would have to literally stop paying on the cards for a few months before they will lower your rates. Your credit score will get trashed in the process.

A better idea would be to raise income by getting a part time job and look at other credit card offers to do a possible balance transfer to a card with a lower rate. Cut your expenses back and look at selling some unwanted and unused items. Throw every dollar that you can at the debts till they are gone.

Thanks.
I'm already way stretched, I have a part-time job, and taking on another part-time job is not an option.
I'm honestly thinking of just doing a bankruptcy. My credit rating is already low, and I have never needed my credit history. I'm in a small rented apartment, single, no car payment, no assets of any value, etc. And I'm savvy with legal form preparation, so happy to file myself and just pay the $300 or so filing fees.

[snafu]

I hope you aren't viewing filing for bankruptcy as the easiest 'out.' It will impact your ability to rent accommodations, find employers who are willing to hire you, loans officer for vehicles and of course credit cards. You will be charged higher rates for insurance and a litany of items unrelated to credit. Since the 2009-12 crisis, the regulations have tightened and you're a financial piraña for around 7 years.

[FrankFacts]

I know you said you're stretched as it is, but little cost-saving measures can make a big difference! It's hard to imagine until you do it.

[msomnipotent]

In the grand scheme of things, $12,000 isn't that bad. I dug myself out of worse with less income. Your interest rates are average. You have a decent monthly income. Why would you be looking at bankruptcy? It would cause more problems than it is worth for this amount of debt.

Find out why your credit score is so low and what you can do to raise it. If one of your credit card companies do not already offer a free credit tracker, try credit karma. As someone already said, focusing on one card at a time is probably the easiest way to start paying it off. There is also paying off the highest interest rate first, or the one with the highest minimum payment.

[Nutria]

and you're a financial piraña for around 7 years.

Pariah...

[clatoden99]

Get on a written budget - every single dollar needs a job. Once you start telling your money what to do, you'll be shocked at how much is being spent frivolously (and it happens to all of us). You will truly feel like you got a raise. Budget on paper or with a software-based tool, like Mint. I use You Need A Budget (fondly referred to as YNAB) and I love it.

Once you're on a budget, make a list of your credit card balances from smallest to largest and keep paying the minimums on each card except for the smallest. Attack the smallest balance with a vengeance by squeezing every dollar out of your budget, picking up extra work, or even selling something.

When that small debt is paid off, put the money you were paying towards it instead towards the next smallest debt. And once that debt is paid off, put that payment PLUS the first payment towards the next smallest. Keep doing this until all eight cards are paid off - it's called a debt snowball, and while it doesn't prioritize paying debts with the highest rates, it does prioritize the power of mental wins. When you pay off that first small debt you are going to feel accomplished and amped up to keep going. And then you'll be even more accelerated by adding those payments to the minimum payments on the next debt.

Lowering your debt utilization rate, a byproduct of all this, will increase your credit score.

After you've paid off your credit cards, build up a solid emergency fund of 3 - 6 months of expenses so you don't have to rely on debt in a future sticky situation. Keep living on a budget. Pay yourself first! In other words, when money comes in, put away savings before doing anything else and budget what you have left. It's important once you're out of debt to stay out - without any payments, you'll be amazed at how far your money can go.