How do I start paying off $16,000 in bad debt?
959957
you won't be able to file for bankruptcy it's much harder to do now than it was before. you can thank people like you who didn't have to file but did anyway. it doesn't matter if it's medical or mechanical they want their money and it looks bad on you. First off realize that you won't be able to get a house in the next few years, be realistic.  Call all of those agencies that you owe and ask to settle they usually settle for less than what is owed to them. Then on your other accounts start paying off the ones with the lowest balance first then the high balance ones. Well good luck and I wish you the best. Don't' try those credit counseling agencies, they are funded by credit card companies to get their money back so they are worthless to people like you who are in debt.
118797
Buy some furniture and pay it off on their 30/60/90 day no interst plan.\n Be sure to pay off the balance on the third payment.\n\nReally, you are young and have a lifetime to pay their pockets.  You won't have any problem getting a credit card. Ask me later how you can get out from under 20k debt.
901255
Pay off the debt first, but keep $5,000. Then take the $5,000 and put it in a high interest bearing account or term deposit account and don't touch that $5,000 for 10/15 years. By that time he would have gone a little further in paying off his debt with his own money and the $5,000 in the high interest bearing account or the term deposit account would have ballooned to a tidy little sum which he can then further apply to his debt or have on hand for emergencies.
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
1043931
Keep paying minimum payments on the CC then use everything else to go toward collections.  \n\nThen the credit card.\n\nYour credit isn't too good now, but this will help it from getting worse.
143896
The best plan is to get on a tight budget, work extra, sell stuff, and put all the extra money toward the debt.  Check out http://www.daveramsey.com and the forums there for additional information on becoming debt free.\n\nGood luck.
186586
First, stop spending more than you make.  In fact, you have to find a way to spend less than you make.\n\nSecond, take your smallest debt (credit card, car payment, etc.) and double the payments on it.\n\nThird, when that smallest debt is paid, take the doubled amount you have been paying on the smallest debt and apply that in addition to whatever minimum payment you have been making.  Work your way up until you have paid everything off.\n\nFourth, save enough money to throw a big party for your friends after you have paid off the last of your debt.\n\nFifth, continue to save money, even if it's only a little bit per paycheck, so you have something for emergencies when they come up so you don't have to go into debt again.\n\nOnce you do all this, you will have learned to live within your means and you won't have to worry about big debts that cause you to be depressed.  Short of this, there are no quick, easy ways to get out of debt.
1173074
call them all and set up payment plans\n\nor talk with a credit counseling/debt consolidation company\n\nbest of luck
162904
start paying all of your bills on time...seriously, that's the best way to begin.
583721
<sarcasm>\nVote for Frank Castle's Answer.  He's the self-proclaimed "Top 3 Answerer in Business & Finance"...even though he didn't answer your question at all.\n</sarcasm>\n\nGet your bills together and sort them out.  Find out what the absolute minimum you can pay on all of them is.  Pay the minimum amount on all of them EXCEPT the smallest one.  Pay as much as you possibly can on that smallest one.  Do that every paycheck until it's paid off.  \n\nOnce that's paid off, take the money that you were paying towards that first smallest bill and combine it with the minimum for the next-smallest bill you've got.  Do that until it's paid off.\n\nNext, do the same thing with the next-smallest bill.  Take all the money (from the first and second bill) that you were paying the second bill off with, and combine it with what you were paying on the third.\n\nThis "snowball effect" will have you out of the hole before you know it.
30136
i am in the same boat as you. far as i can tell right now you have to go and pay all the bills that got you bad credit and then go and like finance something or get a contract cell phone or get a small loan. something to build the credit back up. but that is all i can figure right now.
1061833
I believe you should pay off the bad debt you have first.  After you do that, get a letter from the bank you paid off.\n\nAfter a month, it should no longer show on Check Systems as outstanding,  it should show you as paid off.  CS, thats where banks put you for having a debt with them\n\nI am not sure if check systems can give you a listing of who put you there.   IF so, also keep the letter that says you paid off that bank.  And go open an account by providing proof to the potential bank account you want to open.'\n\nthe way banks see it is: they dont wanna open an account w/ you since youhad a bad historyh w/ previous bank. \nyou will remain on CS. for 5 or 7 yrs. \nI was on it.... paid it off, and had to show those ltrs, i know.
680378
It's clear you don't want to do it the old fashioned way or you might never have ended up with bad credit to begin with. However let me take devil's advocate position just for an excercise in fairness. Pay off your debt as fast as you can & then speak with the Small Business Administration. You'll find a ton of help there. While you're paying off your debt?, try working in the field you want to start up to gain insider tips  on how best to run that business.Look for the link Starting Your Business
107357
The best way to get yourself out of a hole is to stop digging.\n\nDon't take on any new debts under any circumstances whatsoever. If you are able to consolidate your debts into a lower interest rate loan, it would be a good idea. Cut up your credit cards.\n\nIt is bad form to default on your debts - you took them on, you should pay them off. It will hurt, but it *should* hurt. It is the best way to ensure that you never go into debt again.\n\nYou can live on far less money than you think. Be creative. Take every last cent that you can to pay down your debt starting with the highest interest rates. If you want to treat yourself while you are doing this, try some treats that don't cost anything - sign out some DVD's from the library and be a couch potato for the entire weekend if you would like it.\n\nThe *single* best investment that you can make is to pay off your debts. Your credit card debt is racking up at almost 30% before taxes. You would have to get a rate of return on an investment that is about 50% per year to get the same return.\n\nSorry, no pain, no gain.\n\np.s. Been there, done that, will never be there again. I honestly wish you the best of luck.
569737
1. Have a checking account.\n2. Apply for small credit line for something you need furniture, Department store credit card and gas cards are a good place to start.\n3. Pay them off on time do not Carry a large debt. \n4. Maintain a small debt to income ratio. That means your income should be many times greater than your debt. \n5. Constantly, stay informed about personal financial matters.\n6. Do build savings and build a large net worth.\n7. Take a few classes on personal finance.\n8. Make certain that your housing cost rent or mortgage payment plus utilities is never greater than 30% of your income. In fact aim for 25%.
396911
Pay it, if you cannot afford it try to maintain the interest low by talking with the bank. Or borrow the 14,000 from somebody.
133927
Snowball technique:\n\n1. Look at all old debts. Rank them from easiest to hardest to pay off based on total owed, minimum payment due, and (tiebreaker) highest interest rates.\n\n2. While making minimum payments to all other debts, pay this one, PLUS as much extra as you can swing- AT LEAST an extra 10%, but the more the better!\n\n3. As soon as this one is paid off, apply all of the payments you WERE making on it to the next debt in line, WHILE still paying the amount on it you were. By this time, you should be paying about twice the minimum so this one will go faster.\n\n4. Repeat for each other debt- the monthly payment will be getting bigger and bigger, paying it off faster and faster.\n\n5. Throw whatever 'windfalls' you can at this also- tax returns, bonuses, etc.\n\nThey say the snowball will get you debt free in the quickest amount of time- even faster than consolidation loans, etc. One nice thing about it is that YOU are in control of it. If you HAVE to hold back some of the extra money once, no big deal.\n\nPS- this is the technique that a lot of 'get out of debt quick, send money for info' schemes tell you to do.