How can I keep creditors at bay until I can get organized?
965231
I was once married to a woman who is a spend-a-holic so I know what its like to have to pay up and not have it to pay with.  \n\nHere is what I did.  I called each one.  went in person to each one I could find.  Called the rest.  I told them what the plan was.  They were not too happy about it but I told each one it was this plan or I go bankrupt and leave them hanging.  They decided the plan was better than nothing.  \n\nI figured out how long it would take to pay each one off.  I built a few extra paychecks into the plan between each one, just incase I needed to take a kid to the doctor or buy a part for the car etc.  I told each one where they were in the line up.  No they were not happy about it especially the ones at the end of the list.  Once I got a few of the small ones out of the way, I put token payments on the rest of them and took the money that was being used to pay off the little debts and put all of that cash on the next smallest one.  When it was paid off I put all of that money on the next one and so on.  It was unbelivable but I got them all paid off in 3 years.  My credit report suffered a bit but not as much as I thought.  As each one saw me making payments and even getting ahead of schedule (I didn't need the extra paychecks after all) they decided not to report my late payements.  Some did but not all.  I got all the way out of debt.  I win.  They got paid, I got divorced, I'm out of debt and will never go in again willingly.\n\nAs a side note I put the ones that gave me the most crap at the bottom of the list.  I put the ones that were most willing to work with me at the top.  Oddly enough it was the bank and not the dentist who wanted to rape me the most.  So I paid the dentist first.  The Cheveron gas station was also very kind and They got put further up the list as well.  The bank got really pissed.  After about 4 months of no payment at all they got a little more willing to bend.  Funny how that worked.  They would respond by jacking up the interest rate.  I would respond by telling them that was not  helping me.  And if that was their idea of help, it was going to be a long wait.  They were holding credit card debt.  After 4 months of no payment, they took me seriously when I told them it was my way or bankrupcy.  They made a few consessions and I started paying them.
700924
Consolidation is a good idea.....as long as you take this warning.\n\nOver the past few years, many people have gone to consolidation and home equity loans to try and cure their credit problems.  They take all their bills and combine them into one bill, which generally is going to be mean a lower monthly payment, but will take longer to pay off.  OK, so far so good.\n\nThe problem is that these people turn around and charge thing on their "now empty" credit cards.  The result is they are now twice the amount in debt.  They end up filing for bankruptcy.\n\nOver the past two years the vast majority of people who filed BK did it for that reason.  \n\nSo as long as you understand this trap, you will do ok.  Consolidate your loan, but STOP further credit spending.  Get rid of the credit cards and try to use all of your disposable income to get this new loan paid off.  \n\nOtherwise, start looking for a bankruptcy lawyer.
1101743
Keep your files in a hierarchical structure that's what I do and it helps alot. Like you can have "my docs" then "work docs" then "week of 5-05-06" and so on. Oh, did you mean acutal paper documents? Get hanging document holders and label them but in an organized way. I have some and it helps.
838606
Pay your late payments or contact an attorney.  There a lot of good attorneys that work specifically to help you find the loop wholes to keep your house.  Or you can try to find a buyer and sell it before you lose it completely.
952131
Put in your request with the bankruptcy court, but you'll be faaaarrrrr down the list of creditors that get paid.  \n\nThanks for the change in bankruptcy laws Congress :(\n\nI'm afraid in all likelihood he's SOL.
324823
Establish a history of making payments on time and in full.  If you can demonstrate that you can pay off your debt in FULL each month, your credit will rise very quickly.\n\nThat is something that you want to work on asap, too, because the alternative (bankruptcy) is not a great experience!
942797
Get an attorney (a general one). Don't let them keep delaying.
554082
PAY YOUR BILL!!! I work as a bill colelctor and the best thing to do is work out an arrangement that you are able to commit to. Stop running and being immature about it by hanging up (If that's what you do). Although it's people like you that keep us having a job. I know there are some nasty bill collectors but not all are bad. Other wise you can write a cease and desist letter that will eliminate calls for 5 years.  But please make out an arrange to pay off debt or do a settlement. By this, I mean agree to work with the creditor by paying 50% of bll and writting off the rest- it much better than have your acct charge off.
818771
Depending on the type of debt you have it varies however what you can do is consolidate all you debt into one lower monthly payment. Basically you need to get in touch with a credit counseling agency... research them very carefully before agreeing to to start a program with them and they vary depending on where you live. What you can do is pay an initial admin fee to get started again that varies from each organization then say you have 10k is credit card debt they will make a proposal to the credit card company on your behalf to a) close your account b) eliminate or lower your interest as low as possible c) not put you in collections d) accept lower monthly payments without interest for a predetermined amount of time based on your debt \nThen the individual companies decide if they will accept your proposal it may take up to a month for them to decide and from there you pay your credit counselor and they will distribute your monthly payments. In order for this to work you cannot have ANY activity on your credit cards and you need to close your cards it will affect your credit during the time you are on the program but you can pay off almost all your debt and you need to earn back a solid credit rating. It is not a bankruptcy but you cannot apply for loans, credit mortgage etc during the time you are on this program. Good luck hope this helps.
1039914
You're looking for the FASTEST way?  Sounds like you want to rebuild or maintain your credit rating which filing bankruptcy would greatly damage.\n\nThis will take a combination of methods!\n1) Credit Counseling.\n2) Really frugal living.\n3) aggressive payments.\n\n1) I recommend calling one of the non-profit credit counseling outfits...you choose one.  They will do what it takes to get your payments to a minimum.  These no longer damage your credit appreciably (they used to).  I guess the credit scoring agencies (transunion, equifax and experian) appreciate the fact that you're not declaring bankruptcy!\n\n2) The really frugal living means not only tearing up your credit cards, not incurring or increasing new debt, etc. but ALSO cutting out what you do have that you don't need to survive *right now*.  Drop non-essential services like cable, broadband, cellphone, daily paper, etc. if you don't need them for work.  The reason for this is that it will allow you to do step number 3 better...\n\n3) Make _REALLY_ aggressive payments... big enough to hurt a little.  When you do this after the credit counseling folks get your payments down you can really do some serious disaster recovery to your finances.  If you have something to sell (that isn't  lien property or mortgaged) you might want to consider some quick cash to get the debt reduced fast.\n\nIf you have a financed car, you might want to sell it (even for less than you owe) in order to buy and own a used vehicle (you still have to get to work!!) that would do just as well  (you'll save on insurance too).\n\nTo help preserve your credit, contact all the agencies that you owe and tell them of your problem and let them know that you have overextended yourself and you're going to continue payments on the lowest of your bills and can they see about them getting their payments lower before you inevitably file for bankruptcy?\n\nGet a part-time job (if it makes sense)  This creates extra money to pay bills and leaves less time to spend it.  It doesn't make sense if you have to hire a sitter that costs almost as much as you can make part-time or if you have to drive so far that you spend your paycheck on gas just to show up.\n\nOnce you get into the swing of doing this, your debt will disappear...once it's gone...keep doing it for a little while and build up your savings.  Hang on to your savings (which will become your investments) and then start reading books by Suze Orman.  She's a really no-nonsense person with solid ideas (albeit overly opinionated) on how to get and keep your finances together.\n\nBest of luck.  You're embarking on a most worthy endeavor!
1066789
The link below contains a bunch of sample letters to send to creditors.\n\nEmail me if you need more advice.
693878
What you need to do is contact a solicitor about your rights and what will happen next.\n\nYour assets will be taken into consideration whilst in debt and if Bankruptcy comes into play you will lose it to pay off your creditors. They will use that as equity and it will not become yours. I would seriously get legal advice on how to keep those assets.  It maybe that they can transfer them into another name for the time being.
1149542
Get copies of your credit reports from all of the major reporting agencies.  Challenge the bankruptcy.\n\nYour lender can also "fast-track" the cleanup process and get your credit re-scored.  There is a small fee for this, typically about $50.00 per item on the credit record.  This is the fastest way to get this cleared.
273617
Okay heres the truth:\n\nOnce you file for bankruptcy, your credit is done for a bit. Any new bills YOU MUST PAY OFF RIGHT AWAY, no collections... make sure NOTHING IS LATE EVER!!! You will need to wait a while before you can begin to get and rebuild credit. It has been about a year now so we can start (the Bankruptcy will be reported to your CR (credit Report) for 7 years)\n\nGet affordable things: NO CREDIT CARDS!!!! not yet\nmy sugesstion is get a cell phone for a years contract- DO NOT BE LATE EVER (EVEN BY A DAY) on your bill and py the full due amt always. This will be reported on your c/r that you have a revolving account (an account that is reoccuring every month) that you pay on time always! After 6-8 months you may wnat to consider getting a sears card and buyg somthing small (around 100 dollars) and taking 3 months to pay it off- Pay over the min balance everytime- and then on the 3rd month pay it off. this will show positivly on your credit report. Stay slow and small- keep it affordable and don't be late on you movie rentals, rent, morgage, power phone, cable... PAY ON TIME always and more than the minimum balance... in 2-3 years you'll have a report that will hopefull over shadow that Bankruptcy.\nalso only check your c/r once a year everytime you check it or have somone else check it, it lowers. you can check it free once a year by going to www.annualcreditreport.com\n\n-hope that helps
295321
Here's an idea... pay the $500-$700 you'd give a bankruptcy trustee to your creditors, and work yourself out of debt.  Don't wave the white flag of bankruptcy... have some self discipline and get out of your situation on YOUR terms!
1634
Depends on your situation.  You can first consult someone like a non-profit consumer credit counseling services.  They may be able to lower your bills to a manageable amount and drop interest rates as well as get the collectors to stop calling.  If it has gotten very bad and you have nothing, you can consult with a bankruptcy attourney and see what options will work for you.  \n\nI wish you luck...not a great time for this around the holidays.  But know that no matter what happens it always works out somehow.
629638
If your debt is so small that you need to know the minimum amount, you can probably work with your creditors to come up with a payment plan.  Bankruptcy is much tougher to file, now that Congress has changed BK laws.  Also, BK will stay on your credit report for at least 7 years.\n\nCall the people (or companies) you owe moeny to and ask to speak with a manager.  Tell them your situation (you can't afford the payments) and see if they'll accept x amount of dollars (whatever YOU say you CAN afford).  If they say they need a minimum that is higher, just tell them you can't do that.  They don't know all your expenses and will try to get every penny they can.  Stick to your guns and tell them, "this is all I can afford right now".  As long as your're showing you want to pay the debt, they'll generally work with you.\n\nHTH