3 years of debt- Where do I start? Please HELP!?
920328
Your first step would be to get a copy of your credit report.  You can obtain one free if you have been denied credit in the past 30 days and you are also entitled to one free copy per calendar year.  \nYour credit report will show who you owe and will also give you addresses and phone numbers to get in contact with them.  Assess who you owe and how much and work out a budget.  Then give those people a call.  Some may even be willing to settle for less than owed.  Its a small start but its a beginning and you will be on your way to creditworthiness again.\nGood luck!
388631
Consolodate your debt. (get a loan to pay off all your debts) Arrange this with a financial advisor dont try do it yourself, they will get you the best interest rate. Arrange a longer period to pay this off. Cut up any store or credit cards. Budget and always ask yourself before buying anything "do I really need this", "will i be using it in a few months time" "why do i want it". This does help you re-evaluate your spending.
627087
I have a fantastic, totally new concept for you....STOP SPENDING MONEY AND PAY YOUR BILLS. I know this sounds strange to you, but you didn' t 'earn' that FICO doing the right thing. If you do not set about to repair that mess, you will never own anything of value, you will pay outrageous interest rates on any loans you may be able to get on a very old used car, and you will not have your pick of where to live...in fact,, I doubt if you could rent an apartment with that score. Wise up and get to work. There are NO miracles going to happen to save your butt. You got yourself there by not paying for what you took, and you are seriously in over your head. Start today to dig yourself out...it will take a lot of time, but you can do it if you set your mind to it. If you don't, prepare for a lousy life with no home of your own, no nice cars, no...NOTHING! good luck
1036265
You want to investigate www.daveramsey.com and get Dave Ramsey's books from the library. Debt consolidation is NOT the answer. Not trying to be preachy here but the answer is the debt snowball and careful budgeting. I know it sounds insane but it works. Get his book from the library and give it a try.
1039178
First, pay off any and all of your debts leftover from it. Second, treat yourself to something nice. If you don't want to and/or have many leftover after that, third, you can put that money into a high-interest bearing CD for 2 or 3 years yielding 4 or 5%. I would normally suggest a mutual fund with moderate risk (60% stocks/40% bonds) but the way the markets are right now, it may be a mistake. If you want a promising return, put the money into a IRA and either invest in mutual funds or individual stocks. Some good mutual funds right now are probably International Stocks/Bonds, US Bonds, Money Market Funds, and Balanced funds (containing bonds and equities).
436731
If you have credit card debt that's probably th first place to start compared to homeowner or student loan debt.\n\nThe generally accepted best approach to paying dowbn debt goes a little something like this:\n1.) stop taking on new debt aka stop your discretionary spending\n2.) pay the minimum payment on all your bills except for the one with the highest interest rate. The bill with the highest interest rate should be paid down as aggressively as possible aka pay as much as you can to that bill after paying the minimums on all the other bills.\n3.) If you're getting offers for new credit cards with lower interest AND free balance transfers, then sign up for that card and transfer all your debts to that card from other credit cards and then it's easier and cheaper to concentrate on paying down that card.\n4.) Call your credit card companies and request lower interest rates, if you don't ask they won't offer it, so call!
58616
How do you get out of DEBT?\n\nFirst - Contact your creditors.  Explain your situation, and see if they'll lower the interest rate on your cards.  \n\nSecond - ALWAYS pay more than the minimum amount due.  If you don't, it's very possible that you'll -never- get out of debt.\n\nThird - If you can possibly live without using your credit cards, do it.  If you can't live without them, try to limit your usage to an amount you -know- you can pay off (INCLUDING those more-than-minimum payments) at the end of the month.
674214
Step one - figure out exactly how much you owe and to whom.\n\nStep two - if you can't pay everybody, start by setting aside funds for your food, shelter, transportation, and clothing (all stuff you need to live) and a small emergency fund ($500-1000).  Talk to your apt. landlord and see if you can get out of your lease a month early - this may be cheaper than paying the rent for June.\n\nStep three - if you can't pay minimums on everything, contact your creditors BEFORE they start calling you.  Try to work out a payment plan that YOU can afford.  Don't let them tell you they need a certain amount (more than what you  told them you can pay).  They'll be happy to get something from you.  Only you know how much you can afford to pay them.\n\nStep four - list all your debts (except "mortgage") in order from smallest to largest.  Once you have the emergency fund, pay as much as you can on the smallest debt and minimums on everything else.  Once the first is paid off, use the money you were paying them to work on the next largest debt, so that the total amount you're paying on all your debts stays the same.  Some people may say to start with the highest interest rate, but (in the end) the amount of interest you save is so small, it really doesn't matter.  This way (smallest to largest balance) you see progress pretty quickly and it encourages you to keep going.\n\nStep five - once you're debt free, remember all the mistakes you made and how horrible this time was so you don't end up back there.\n\nIf you need more info, go to the library and look for any books by Dave Ramsey (Financial Peace, Your Total Money Makeover).
432926
I am guessing that you are in a bit of a difficult situation and probably have more money flowing out than coming in.\n\nYou would be best to enlist the services of credit counselling service for little or no fee. These services are offered to individuals with low to modest incomes having difficulty with expenses and debt. They can assist you with budgeting, money management and create a payment plan to get your debts and bills obligations paid off.\n\nTip: Get everything in writing and ensure you know who you are dealing with. Here in Canada we have more government not-for-profit options available whereas I am finding all kinds of private businesses on the net in the U.S. which are supposedly going to assist you with counselling services. However, remember they are in the business to make money. Be careful.\n\nAll the best!
730399
Iam 35 and I also made some bad financial decisions when I was younger. My advice is to clear your name, get the debts out the way and start a clean slate. Ring them up and sort something out. It will be better for you in the future, because it will give you more options, and you wont have the weight of it hanging over you.
488780
I had to borrow money from my wife to buy her an engagement ring.  I cashed in my 401K to pay her back.  When we got married we had $27,000 in credit card debt.  She made us do a budget so we could see where our money went and prioritize our spending.  Eight years later, we own a house, a timeshare, have two children, and only $4,000 dollar in credit card debt.\n\nStep #1:  Make a budget listing all the spending you have now.  People generally hate the word budget because they think it is restricting their spending.  Instead, view it as prioritizing your spending.  The first things that you will spend on will be rent, food, car/gas, utilities, etc.  \n\nStep #2:  Look at all other spending.  Do you want to have HBO and premium cable, or can you just purchase basic cable and save an extra $6.99 each month?  Do you subscribe to a newspaper and only really read the Sunday paper?  There is another $3.00 per month.  Do you eat out to dinner (this includes pizza, fast food, take out, etc) three times each week?  How about only twice and there is another $20 each week or $80 each month. \n\nStep #3:  Start reading your credit card statements and stop making late payments. This was the biggest help to us.  Not only is that $29 that you could save instead of giving to a credit card company, but late payments make your credit score go down and then you only get credit cards with high interest rates.  Check all the interest rates of each credit card.  If you receive a credit card offer of a low interest rate, see if your credit card company will match it.  If not, transfer that balance right away.  We have found the credit card offers that work best to decrease you debt are those that have 4.99% for the life of the balance, instead of $0% until next August.  MOST IMPORTANT, once the balanaces have been transferred and you receive your new credit card, cut it up, throw it away, put it in the freezer in a ziploc bag, but do not use it.  ANy new purchases will be at a higher rate and will not decrease until the low interest balance is paid off completely.\n\nStep #4:  Save money for something small.  If you want a new sweater or an iPod or a weekend vacation, choose the goal and start puuting cash in an envelope.  This will start your savings habit and reward yourself at the same time.  As your cash envelope becomes more, then you can move it to a savings account.\n\nHope this helps.
984508
pay off your debt first, then put the rest in a savings account such as HSBCdirect.com or in a money market account, you can find out the best rate at bankrate.com
343397
How much debt are we talking about?  How difficult is it going to be for you to pay it off?  Are you looking into buying something soon?  Lots of questions, not enough answers.\n\nAs mentioned, this debt will drop off your credit records after 7 years, starting on the day of default.  If you can wait that long, don't pay it and watch it go away.  \n\nLegally, after a certain time the Statute of Limitations runs out.  Each state has a differant time length (many are 5-7 years for credit card debt).   Check the link below for that information.  If the creditors are threatening to sue you, they lose that right after this time.  So, at this time you may not even have a legal obligation to pay. \n\nIf this advice doesn't help, and you still want to pay, a word of advice.  Before you send these guys a dime, get it IN WRITING that they will remove the entry from your credit history, or change the listing to "paid in full, never late".  Otherwise, the report will stay on your record, and your credit will still be ruined.  \n\nRemember, you are tying to fix your credit score.  What is the sense of paying them, and still having a bad score?  They can and will remove the listing.  Do not believe them if they say they can't do it.  It it legal, and that's the ONLY leverage you have on them.  But get it in writing first.
450180
Don't get into debt to begin with!!  But if you already have, then the main thing is to pay more than the minimum required by the credit cards, etc.  That's the #1 way to pay off the debts quicker and to pay less interest. Even if you have to get another job. And this philosophy go's for any age! Good luck!!
257401
Attend credit counseling classes and PAY OFF YOUR DEBTS. It takes 7 years or MORE to rebuild.
89369
I would consult an attorney about it.  \n\nIf you can't do that because of money issues - talk to the firm who is "helping" you to get out ot debt.  They of all should be able to have exactly what you should do all planned out for you.  \n\nIf they can't help you on it... I would SERIOUSLY be looking into a different company to help me in this.  There are non-profit agencies out there who know everything about this sort of thing.  Good luck
488445
Been there!  Done that!  Ah, the innocence of youth!  Here's what we did.  \n\nList all of your credit cards, starting with the lowest BALANCE first (not the highest interest rate - I'll explain why in a minute).  This way, you know who you owe and how much you owe.\n\nIf you can afford the minimum payments, but not much more: pay the minimum on everything EXCEPT the lowest balance.  Put as much as you can (until it hurts a bit) on that card.  But don't neglect necessities, like shelter (including utilities), food (not fa(s)t food), transportaion, and clothing - you need these to earn an income.  Pay for them first, then credit card debt.\n\nWhen the first card is paid off, take what you were paying them and ADD it to the next card, so your total debt payment stays the same.  Keep doing this until they're all paid off.\n\nThe reason you start with the smallest balance first is so that you see yourself making progress much more quickly and will be encouraged to keep at it.  The difference in the interest paid when it's all said and done, is very small.\n\nIf you can't even afford the minumum payments: contact the banks that gave you these card BEFORE they start calling you.  Explain your situation and tell them you WANT to pay these debts, but can't afford to.  Tell them what you can pay, don't let them tell you how much they need (only YOU know how much you can afford).\n\nThen go get a second (or third) job and get rid of these things.\n\nWhen you're finished, don't forget where you've been and remember that you NEVER want to go back there.