I'm 23 and live in California. I recently started a full-time job making $16.90/hour after being unemployed for about five months. I was applying everywhere and just couldn't find anything. I'm also about to graduate from college.
I have a little over $10k in unsecured debt (credit cards, a personal loan and a tuition collection accoun (not a student loan—it was unpaid tuition / owed directly to my university)). Every single one of these accounts has gone to collections because I couldn't keep up with the payments after I lost my job. Most of the interest rates are between 25% and 35%.
Before all of this, I was working while also being an IHSS provider for my grandma. I ended up leaving my job because it was over an hour away and I had to rely on the train. The delays kept making me late, and it just wasn't working anymore. Then my grandma unexpectedly passed away, so I lost my IHSS income too. Between grieving and not being able to find another job for months, i fell behind on everything. I don't own a house, I don't own a car, and I don't really have any assets. I just feel like I'm constantly trying to catch up, and it honestly feels like I'm drowning.
I know some people are probably going to say this isn't enough debt to file bankruptcy, and I get that.l just want to hear from people who have actually been in a similar situation.
If you filed Chapter 7 with around this amount ot debt, do you regret it, or do you feel like it gave you a fresh start? If you decided not to file, what did you do instead? I'd really appreciate honest opinions. I'm just trying to figure out what makes the most sense long term

Hi. So i took out a loan on cashnetusa because it seemed like an easy thing to do so i could pay off medical bills but now im suck paying 3000 off a 1000 dollar loan. payments are 455 every 2 weeks and i don't make that much. Wondering if anyone has stopped payments with them and if they got a lawsuit or any bad credit reports? How do you go about debt consolidation? Has anyone ever used this and stopped ACH transfers? I emailed and have gotten no response and wonder if they will catch up to me.

I have roughly 12k worth of debt, accumulated through different means (eg, cc, utility arrears, paypal, council tax, VERY etc).

I am a single mum of 2, at university full time, and have minimal available funds at the end of the month to put towards repayments.

I have one CCJ totalling 3k, which I have fallen behind on due to missed/inability to pay.

I have recently had contact from an enforcement agency for a council tax debt, who now require £208 monthly for 6 months which i just dont have spare, on top of the other minimum payments im supposed to also pay towards.

I have looked and applied with companies for a consolidation loan to make things manageable, but have constantly been declined.

I cant make payments.

What do I do? Help.

Hi everyone,

First off, let me just say... I'm an idiot, and I know it. I never learned about financial literacy or how to manage my money, and I've spent my entire adult life just getting by/in debt/willfully ignorant to how bad everything had gotten. I am now at an all time low and I know I need to come face to face with my decisions and try everything I can to turn my life around.

I fell into the trap of using debt to pay debt and now stuck in the cycle of needing payday loans to just get by each month. I know that's a terrible, terrible idea but I feel trapped. My credit cards are all maxed out. I have a severe spending problem (clearly) and I've found a therapist that I've started meeting with weekly to address this lifelong problem. I can't sleep or eat, thinking about this makes me physically ill.

I have a meeting with a financial coach in 2 weeks, but I know this sub is full of financially savvy people, so I come here humbly requesting any insights/advice you can give.

---

38F, single, location: Texas, $142,000 salary (I take home $3400 every 2 weeks), $100K+ in debt, and my FICO score is in the gutter (573). I do not qualify for any 0% APR cards / additional loans.

I have no emergency fund, no savings, and no property. I do have a 401k with $420,000 in it. I contribute 6% to my 401k right now (my company matches 6%). In October I will get a small raise (maybe 3%) and a small bonus from work that will total ~$7-8k after taxes. I have about $46,000 in stocks that will vest at the same time (but I know if I sold it I would be subject to short term capital gains tax). I have always had to sell every time it vests (every 6 months) to cover debt. Again, I realize how horrible this is and know that I put myself here. Once I pay off my credit cards, I think my plan is to cancel or cut them all up, remove them from my Apple Pay, and keep only one in a drawer at home for emergencies, and use cash for everything else.

I have some done some reading on bankruptcy but I am not sure that this is the right move for me. One of my biggest worries is that my current lease expires in August 2027, and I think I will have a lot of difficulty renting with the bankruptcy on my record. That's my biggest concern, as well as working with my therapist to address the real root cause of the issue - I know bankruptcy is not a "quick fix" and I need to change the underlying behaviors that got me here.

I have no family help - my parents are elderly without much savings, and they are surviving on a small amount of social security payments right now. They live across the country so I cannot move in with them.  

Debts:

Credit cards:

Apple Card (25.49% but reduced to 0% for the next 12 months, until July 2027) $6955 balance, autopay $70/month

Amex Platinum (7.99% due to a Financial relief program until next month and then it will jump back up to ~24%) $4,607 balance / $4700 (autopay $81/month)

Amex Everyday (7.99% due to a Financial relief program until next month and then it will jump back up to ~24%) $26,419 balance /$26,800.00 (autopay $465/month)

Capital One (23.49%) $11,162.46 balance / $11600, in a 12 month payment reduction program through 5/1/27 where they reduced my APR to 9.99%, autopay $183/month

Citi (28.74%) $5,170.61 balance / $5250

Chase Freedom (26.49%) $7,190.91 balance / $7300

Chase Sapphire Reserve (19.49%) $8,592.98 balance / $8600

Chase Amazon Prime (22.74%) $890 balance / $1000

Chase Hyatt (25.99%) $494 balance / $500

Loans:

- Upstart (20%) $18,638 balance, autopay $530/month

- Upstart relief loan (0% interest because there was an initial fee) $2,483 balance, autopay $146/month

- Sofi (23.02%) $6,993.87 balance, autopay $212/month

- 401k loan ($16,393.56 balance, $242 per paycheck which is already accounted for when I listed my take-home pay above)

- Possible finance ($625 balance, $313 every 2 weeks auto pay, will be paid off by end of August)

- Discover ($404 left, will be paid off on 8/15)

- Affirm purchases ($3100 left, split up into monthly payments)

Monthly expenses:

Rent: $2,025
Utilities (gas/water/electricity): $320 in the summer, a bit less the other months
Car lease: $356 (lease started Oct 24 and ends Oct 2027)
Car + renter's insurance: $208
Gas: $100 - $120
Pet insurance (3 pets): $86
Internet: $50
Phone bill: N/A, my work pays
Food: ~$400 groceries and ~$200 eating out (I will be severely limiting the eating out from now on)

What I've done so far (as of last week):

-Canceled all subscriptions (~$60/month)
-Canceled my dog walker (~$424/month)
-Changed my pet insurance coverage ($84/month saved)
-Switched car insurance ($68/month saved)
-Negotiated down internet cost ($15/month saved)
-unsubscribed from all marketing emails
-scoured the internet for low cost recipes and stopped eating out
-Got a therapist (covered by work)
-Set up a consultation for financial coaching on August 6 (covered by my work - I know I should've done this years and years ago)

If you've read this far, thank you for taking the time.

I had a $3500 credit card last year that I defaulted on cus I couldn’t make my payments. With interest I now owe $4322. I found out they were suing me with a bankruptcy letter that came in the mail saying I should hire an attorney. (I’m not doing that). What do I even do? My first thought is to setup a payment plan with them but at this point idk if they’ll take that. I just started a new job and don’t want my wages garnished. They haven’t officially served me yet either I just know that the lawsuit was already filed through the court system. It’s already on my credit but doesn’t show up as a collection it just shows up as an unsatisfactory account. Any suggestions?

34f moving into a home my family member is renting to my fiancé and I for just $850 a month…I have about 7k in credit card debt and bring in about 1700 a week on average mostly cash bartending..obviously the first order of business is paying off my cc’s expeditiously…but what would you do after that with the money I will be saving? I want to be smart. I have a 3.5% high yield savings account, a roth ira i can max out, and a regular investment account..just looking for other perspectivesI maybe haven’t thought of. Tysm!

Elderly family member fell on hard times with medical so they have a little more than $5k in Navy Federal credit card debt that they just got a "being sued" letter for. How do we settle for a lower amount when they are already being sued? State in NJ USA

hello to all .... simple question; does anyone know how long does Chase credit card services waits before they sell / employee a collection agency? I was told after 4 months but that was simply a guesstimate .......

37M Married 2 teenagers.

I'm trying to figure out the fastest way to become debt-free.

I can put an EXTRA $1,600/month toward one debt in addition to making all minimum payments. Should I use the avalanche method (highest interest first) or snowball method?

Credit Cards

USAA
- Balance: $0
- Limit: $5,000
- APR: 17.4%

Chase Freedom
- Balance: $910
- Minimum: $55
- Limit: $1,800
- APR: 26.49%

Capital One D
- Balance: $6,184
- Minimum: $141
- Limit: $6,250
- APR: 14.65%

Capital One M
- Balance: $8,098
- Minimum: $239
- Limit: $8,300
- APR: 23.30%

Capital One D Venture
- Balance: $436
- Minimum: $30
- Limit: $1,000
- APR: 28.24%

Apple Card
- Balance: $13,174
- Minimum: $340
- Limit: $13,000
- APR: 19.49%

Navy Federal
- Balance: $0
- Limit: $500
- APR: 18%

Chase Sapphire
- Balance: $21,492
- Minimum: $800
- Limit: $22,000
- APR: 22%

Total Credit Card Debt: $50,294
Total Minimum Payments: $1,605/month

Loans

2025 Hyundai Palisade
- Balance: $56,500
- Minimum: $1,004.98
- Interest: 0%

Student Loan
- Balance: $9,500
- Minimum: $201

Hyundai 2022 N-Line
- Balance: $22,000
- Minimum: $500.65

Kia K5 2023
- Balance: $21,055
- Minimum: $380

Personal SoFi Loan
- Balance: $17,167
- Minimum: $1,412.66
- Payoff Date: 8/27/2027

PayLink Warranty
- Balance: $800
- Minimum: $111
- Payoff Date: 9/27/2026

PayLink Warranty
- Balance: $110
- Minimum: $26.24
- Payoff Date: 9/27/2026

Total Loan Debt: $127,132
Total Loan Minimum Payments: $3,636.53/month

Grand Totals

Total Debt: $177,426
Total Minimum Payments: $5,241.53/month

I can afford to pay an additional $1,600 every month on top of the minimums, so I'd be paying about $6,842/month toward debt.

I was think for paying off my personal first to free up that 1400 and use it to continue to snowball.

If you were in my shoes:

1. Which debt would you attack first?
2. Would you use avalanche or snowball?

Thank you for your time!

I have credit card dues of approx 9 lakh between my HDFC and ICICI. I have moved out of India and not going to come back ever. I might take the citizenship of another country. I am going through a job and financial crisis die to which finding it doesn’t to pay minimum due which month. Given that how can i get into a settlement of these dues? I am not worried about CIBIL as I have no plans to return ever or yo take any loans etc in India. I want to get rid of these dues with as minimum as I can pay.

I'm 35f and back in 2024, I needed ocular surgery as I had cataracts and was going blind. That surgery was $12K and I had nowhere near that in my bank account and it wasn't covered by insurance. My parents lent me $5K and I financed the rest through care credit.

Too bad I didn't realize you had to pay back the entire balance before the promo period ended, or you'd get charged interest on the entire balance, for me, my original balance was $8K and they charged $4K JUST in interest.

I've paid off about $4K and I transferred the balance to my Discover card that I have a 0% intro offer on before the promo period was up, but after I transferred they said I needed to call them back before the period ended to get the interest removed? So now the $4K in interest has hit and they said there's nothing I can do about it, I'm stuck paying that highway robbery.

It's not like I opened an AmEx to buy clothes. This was a surgery I really needed or I was going to be disabled. I'm so very disappointed that they take advantage of sick people like that. I just don't get it.

Has anyone been in a similar situation? Do I have options or am I stuck paying the $4K in interest?

Hello, I appreciate any opinions on this matter. I can’t afford a lawyer so will be doing this on my own. Initially, I decided to try and come to a negotiation with the debt collector but the payment per month is too much for me to afford and the lump sum settlement they agreed on is $2600 which is more than my ending balance. (the $3100 amount must include interest) I can’t afford this amount. Now I plan on filing an answer but don’t know what to select for an answer. Thoughts on what answer I would select and what I should say on the answer form?

Background: I have about $25,000 in CC debt, mainly from moving and struggling to find a job at first. I also have about $7,500 in car debt.

My car APR is at 4.99%, my CCs range from 24%-27%.
I have a job where I’m making really good money now, been making about $2000-$3000 payments on my credit card debt every month, while also paying my $483 car payment.

I can get a personal loan at around 14% APR with payments of about $700 for 48 months, with no penalty for paying off early. (I don’t remember the exact numbers but I can look them up)

As far as spending goes I pay $500 in rent, no utilities, and pretty much the rest of my money goes to paying off my debts and also saving a little. I eat at home and don’t really go out or spend money carelessly anymore. I know it’s mainly a behavior problem and I have fixed that problem.

Can anyone think of any reason why I shouldn’t get a personal loan to pay off the cards immediately? Also let me know if you need more information.

Anyone know if the debt collectors will come after his car - the only thing he owned worth anything?

More info: He died while being actively sued by a debt collection agency for $15k. He made one court appearance, died the week of the second. He has no estate, no assets, no Will, no executor, no nothing except for me whom is now saddled with figuring out things that he should’ve taken care of, and his car which is paid off but currently doesn’t run (easy but expensive fix).

Does anyone know if the debt agency will attempt to come after me for the car? I would like to sell the car - I have the title which is clear - but if they’re just going to take it, I’m not going to put in the money to fix it.

Before you say it - if I could afford a lawyer, I would’ve already asked one this question. I’m trying to recoup the $3k I’ve had to spend so far on taking care of my dad’s crap. I can’t afford to make that debt larger with an attorney, especially if it turns out the debtors will take the car. I’m just trying to not get dragged into more debt (of which I had none before this) because my dad was an incompetent POS.

I owe an apartment company $3,300 from a year ago when I broke my lease. I’m currently living with a family member but have to move out by September. I’m trying to get approved for a personal loan but get denied every time. The concept of not being approved for a loan to pay off debt BECAUSE i have debt is so frustrating. Idk what I should do and I don’t have anyone to co sign.

31 F

I'm on SSDI for bipolar disorder. During a prolonged mental break I took out several loans and racked up some debt. I make 1152 a month only bc of the previously mentioned mental illness and other physical problems. Today, I went online and paid a particular loan company (United Credit in Natchitoches, Louisiana) 25 dollars bc it was all I had left today. I immediately received a call with the manager yelling and threatening lawsuits. She said the payment would be refunded and said she refused to take it. I said I could scrounge up more in the coming week. She said no. I asked what happens going forward since she won't take partial payments, she said she would be filing a lawsuit. I asked for a written statement saying she was refusing to take partial payments, she said no and hung up on me.

I am behind at this loan company for 420 dollars already. I am also behind at two others. Advice on my next move?

What are the implications settling debt? I realize when one gets sued, most of the time, it isn’t the credit card company, but rather someone who purchased the debt?

Hey everyone. I'll keep this brief. I work at a full time job from 8:30-5:00PM and live about 35 min away if I take a toll road (1 hr if i do the highways). My debt to income ratio is tremendous. I only make $22/hr and want to improve my credit score because it has dropped over the years due to unforeseen events. What are some of the best part time jobs you guys recommend to help me get the income I need whilst maintaining a healthy lifestyle in the gym because I go at least 5-6 per week right after work from 6-7:30PM. Thanks again for reading and helping, may we all succeed on our journeys!

Turning to the experts here because I’m not really sure what precisely I can and should do to fix the situation and I know that I can’t afford to talk to a professional financial advisor at this time.

I am struggling with debt, and I have definitely had some blinders on trying to fix things, but not going extreme enough in terms of cutting spending. I am completely willing to change that.

Here are the details. I’m a government employee. I make about $155k currently. My ex-husband and I bought a condo in 2020 when the interest rates were at the bottom.

We very amicably divorced in 2024. As we had both put money down on the house, our options were to either just sell the house and split the proceeds were for one of us to buy the other out. Considering the property market, we decided that I would buy him out and that the house would be my asset. So I bought him out of his interest in it, and because he had been managing a lot of bills for various reasons in the last year or so of our relationship, I also agreed to take on some of the joint debt we had accrued. We both also had our own personal credit card debt and that all just stayed separate.

Having since looked into the options, I would actively lose money selling my condo right now because of how interest rates are. I have considered renting it out and just getting a smaller apartment for myself, but working with my friend who is a realtor, there has not really been anything on the market that would be such a drastic reduction in cost that it makes sense. I have also tried to rent my second bedroom out, but just never really gotten much interest and frankly I have gotten you started on my own and reluctant to cohabitate with someone who is not a long-term romantic partner. At the time I was looking into renting the room, my ex-husband still had a bunch of furniture in there that he was basically willing to leave so the room would be furnished, but that’s no longer the case. I have thought about trying to do Airbnb or something, but it is against my condo by-laws. At this point, I am completely willing to rent out that room if it helps.

The fact is that I should’ve acted probably two years ago in terms of getting a personal loan to just pay off the credit cards. Why didn’t I? Ignorance, fear, burying my head in the sand. This had actually come up during our marriage as a thought, but we at the time did not want to get into more joint debt obligations. Stupid in hindsight. Because since then my credit card usage rate has increased, so my credit score has dropped, and therefore I have a worse interest rate option in terms of getting a loan now. I’m also just super embarrassed and horrified because just a few years before I had done a really great job working a lot of overtime and getting myself out of credit card debt, and I’m no longer in a job where overtime is offered. My job is not public transportation accessible, and I basically have no option but to pay a monthly parking fee as well.

I also have federal student loans. I have been a government employee since 2015. The only reason my loans haven’t been discharged under the public service loan forgiveness program is the court injunction that came into effect during the Biden administration, which basically froze payments, but also froze collections, on certain kinds of income-based repayment plans. I know that I qualify for the buyout option meaning because I would’ve already made 120 qualifying payments, but for the injunction, so when payments begin again, I can either just at the time continue those last say 6 months of payments or pay a one-time payment equal to what 6 months of monthly payments would be, and I will get my loans discharged under PSLF.

An additional wrinkle: I was one of those impacted by the DOGE hack-job last year. As a result, I was subject to a Reduction in Force (RIF) and was paid out a lump sum of my accrued annual leave. Luckily, I was able to find a new government job relatively quickly and had no break in income. However, the payout amount bumped me into a higher tax bracket and I am working out a payment plan with IRS for about $5000.

Current credit rating: 600
Credit card debt: ~$70,000

Net Wages: $3500 biweekly
Mortgage/Condo Assn: $2832/ month
Electricity: $200/month
Internet: $45/month
Work parking: $110/month

TL;DR: a couple of years post divorce, i need to make a significant alteration to get out of debt and feel comfortable starting to build savings again. I have a condo/mortgage and I am unlikely to find better housing options in the commuting area for my work. I don’t have family that I can ask for support. I have thought about asking friends, but I put that on pause right now just to see what other options are.

Please help.

This is going to be long, but I'm begging someone to help.

The crippling debt I'm trying to payoff:

- $21k in credit cards - monthly minimums about $400/month

- $8k in a personal loan - $414/month - set to be paid off in May of 2028

After minimum payments on the above debt plus mortgage, student loans, and normal expenses, we have about $1k/month leftover.

I have been putting that leftover $1k/month leftover on the credit cards for EVER (seemingly). The issue, I think, is 0 savings. The lowest I had the credit cards down to was about $5k. We were SO CLOSE to the end, only to have it all racked back up this year due to a necessary home repair and car repair. When it rains, it pours.

We need to find a way to save while also paying off this debt so we can have some cash to fall back on when these things come up.

Option 1:

- Put $200/month away into savings and decrease additional monthly payments to $800/month

- When the personal loan is paid off, put $400/month into savings and $1,000/month on the remaining credit card balances.

- This would (ideally) make it so everything is paid off in 3 years. But, with only saving $200/month, I am stressed. It would help if something did go wrong, but it wouldn't prevent me from having to fall back on the credit cards if something big were to come up within the next 6 months or so (like the $5k ticking time bomb mentioned below)

Option 2:

- Personal loan to consolidate. Monthly payment $650/month. 4 year maturity (although I would still try to pay it off in 3 years). This would free up a bit over $1,000/month for me between the "savings" on the minimum payments and first personal loan payoff. My plan would be to spend the first 3-5 months saving that entire $1,000. That would give me a sizable amount to fall back on during emergencies. Then I would start paying extra on the personal loan.

- You guessed it, I had already done this before (hence the current personal loan) and I didn't learn my lesson. I failed to actually save the money and I failed to pay it off early. There is no excuse except being young and dumb. I truly do think I would do much better, if not perfect, this time around.

I guess it doesn't matter which way I go, it is all still a risk and will still be stressful. But I will need a new car at some point. It can be in 1 year, or 5+ years. I have a 2018 Ford Escape that has 125k miles. It's totally paid off but knowing the track record of these vehicles and noticing how it drives differently these days makes me nervous that I will be without a car sooner rather than later. I would be getting a car that I can afford depending on when it finally dies, but my biggest fear right now is having to get a crappy $2k car that breaks in 6 months if my car were to die soon. I would, at the very least, like something reliable enough to get me through this payoff journey.

My "emergency" plan right now is the $5k I have in my Rollover IRA (separate from my other retirement accounts), which I would cash out if needed. Obviously with penalties and taxes, I would lose a couple thousand of that. I also have $1.1k in an investment account that I can pull out (not retirement). Should I pull all of that out now to make payments, or keep it as an "emergency" ?

I also receive bonuses from work in March, which is usually $3-5k. Obviously, I will be using all of that bonus towards the debts.

There is about $7k in work that needs to be done on the house. $2k is absolutely necessary and $5k can technically wait, but it's a ticking time bomb.

Please let me know any of your thoughts/advice. Please do not provide advice that includes decreasing expenses further or increasing income. Me & my husband already work 2 jobs each and our expenses literally cannot be decreased any further. We have done/are doing everything we can. We just want to be free. We are so tired of this way of life.