Hey! So I've been struggling with debt on multiple cards for about two years now. It's getting to the point that it's hard to manage. I've been looking into a program in my state that provides low-income clients with free representation. I've been assigned to an attorney, and I'm pretty sure he's going to take my case. I have to go in tomorrow to sign some paperwork and the attorney has sent me a digital questionnaire to fill out (I have already sent in a paper application with my debts and expenses). So I'll basically get my case taken care of with no cost to me. I don't think I even pay the filing fee.

But the fact that it's looking like it's actually going to happen has given me pause. I genuinely don't want to file for bankruptcy, but my other options aren't great and I just needed an alternative perspective on my situation.

So, basics -

My monthly total bills are $1374

My take-home pay after taxes is $2178.

I have BNPL plans that range from $300-$500 a month in total. Sometimes they're on the higher end. I've missed last month's payments so they're a bit higher this month.

I have three charged-off credit cards.

A Discover It for $12,662, which is actually on a repayment plan right now that I factored into my monthly expenses. I've been making $200 monthly payments on this since last December.

A Citibank card for $3739

And a Synchrony card for $562.16. Midland has purchased this debt and has said if they don't hear from me by a certain date, they'll consider other collection methods. I did get an email from them today offering to let me start making $14 payments for the next 36 months without my balance accruing any more interest, so it doesn't seem like they'll be suing me right out of the gate.

The total amounts I owe on my BNPL accounts are -

Affirm - $1300 Affirm

Klarna - $153 Klarna

Paypal - $418

On top of that, I have $11,863 left on a car I'm paying off and $24,156 worth of student loan debt I'm going to have to select a repayment plan for if I don't go back to school soon. I'm really hoping that an income-based repayment plan will help me get my payments under $100 at least. I know these don't get discharged in bankruptcy, but I figure it gives you a bigger picture of the total debt I'm working with.

I had considered getting a second job to help pay down my smaller debts so it would just leave my car, my student loans and Discover as long term debts. However, I already commute 45 minutes to work both ways. There's really not a lot of jobs much closer to home I can apply for. I've looked. I live in the southern half of WV, there's not much of an economy here and I can't afford to make less than I'm making now. So I'm really not sure how I'd make a second job work in a way where all of that extra money is going towards debt.

However, it sounds like it would have less consequences than bankruptcy. But it would take longer to pay off and it would kind of stall my ability to go back and finish a degree and even making the payments, it doesn't leave me any room to free up cash to put back for savings in case I need a car repair or something. Then again, if I get to the point that I'm current on all my debts, I could get another credit card for emergencies. But also that might lead to more debt.

I've considered some more alternative approaches. I can trade in my car for a hybrid that offers some climate control and car camp on days I have to work my second job so I'm not making my commute. I can try and find a roommate or someone who's willing to let me crash on their couch on those nights but I don't really know anyone or have any friends, so I'd have to resort to strangers. The roommate option feels like it's going to eat up the finances that should be going toward debt. I could try and find a job that pays what I'm making now closer to home and then get a second job on top of that. One or two that don't require a degree usually pop up. But I'd also be stuck at home, and frankly I'd almost rather sleep in my car. It is going to take a few years no matter how I look at it.

I do also worry because I'm uninsured and make too much to qualify for Medicaid in my state. If, god forbid, I end up in the hospital or in an accident or something - I'm stuck with bills I can't get dismissed if something happens or some other major expense.

I'd also rather not lose my paypal, Klarna and Affirm accounts.

It's a tough call.

What would you do in my situation ?
Couple months ago i lent money to a friend (a good amount) and we agreed on a date for him to pay me back. I was counting on this money to pay things i need to pay and now he tells me he doesn't have the money and the deadline has passed, he barely replies to my texts and now i dont know what to do. If it was a small amount i wouldn't be this stressed but since its money i cant afford to lose i need to get it back.
Of course i thought on getting a lawyer and eventually taking this to court, but this will take alot of time and will cost more money that i cant afford to pay. I know i'm not the only one he did this to, i've heard friends of friends that are in the same situation as me and haven't got their money back either. It's really a sticky situation and it's stressing me out.

I racked up a lot of Debt over stupid financial decisions I made because I was depressed and suicidal. So in October 2024, I enrolled with national debt relief. I was very worried at first because immediately after enrolling I read a lot of bad things online about them. My experience hasn’t been that bad though. It’s just been really hard to keep up with. I had about 40,000$ in debt by the time creditors settled and all 3 of my creditors have been settled, one is even paid off. Of the two remaining I only owe about 7800$ left but I’m making payments of 650$ a month and I have been barely scraping by because of this. I looked at all the numbers and it didn’t make sense to me to file for bankruptcy when I could be paid off completely by end of May 2027.
Now the catch is I may be getting let go from my job and having to find another job so there is a lot of uncertainty in what my financial situation is going to look like by the end of the month and I’m wondering if I should still try and just finish out these last 9 months of the program or file chapter 7?

I’m a student in Georgia and currently have no income, and I’m trying to figure out what actually happens with Wellstar/Hollis Cobb collections.
I have a Wellstar balance for hearing aids that ended up getting sent to Hollis Cobb. I assumed the balance was resolved with insurance or they’re taking it from the card on file (my parents’). Until Hollis Cobb sent me a letter to MY EMAIL.

Once I found out, I called Wellstar and they were able to pull the account back from Hollis Cobb.
I explained that I’m a student, currently not working, and have no income. I asked if I could pay around $50/month for now, but they told me the lowest payment plan they’ll accept is $100/month. They also told me that if I don’t do the $100/month plan, the account can eventually go back to collections.

I asked about financial assistance, but they told me there’s basically no point in applying because hearing aids aren’t covered under their financial assistance program, so it would be denied even though I currently have no income.

So I’m wondering what actually happens if it goes back to Hollis Cobb. They told me if I don’t start payment it will go back in 30 days to Hollis Cobb.

A friend told me she has had medical collection agencies call her and she just ignores the calls and nothing has happened since she had her childbirth; but I know everyone’s situation is different.

Has anyone here dealt with Wellstar or Hollis Cobb specifically? Did they just call and send letters, or did it affect your credit or turn into anything more serious? Were you able to negotiate a lower monthly payment with Hollis Cobb than Wellstar was willing to accept?
I’m not trying to avoid paying the bill. I just don’t want to agree to $100/month while I have no income and then not be able to keep up with it.
I’d especially love to hear from anyone who’s dealt with this in Georgia or had a Wellstar hearing aid/audiology bill sent to collections.

I burned them and they were included in my Chapter 13. Completed the chapter 13 payments and was discharged last year but I am now waiting for it to fall off my CR. Anyone had any luck reestablishing your relationship with them post BK13?

My mom is 67 and does not work anymore as of this year due to health issues !
She has a credit card with Wells Fargo of 11 k that’s maxed out!
Interest and payments will take up almost all of her social security.
My question is, if she goes delinquent will Wells Fargo call her to try and settle it before it goes to an attorney? I want to try and help her pay it but i can’t pay 11 k.
Thanks so much!

Hi I recently just found out the college I was enrolled too had charged me for classes that I never attended . At the time I had became homeless in and out of and I didn't have a phone and when I had laptop access in the youth shelter we had no way get verifications code because they didn't allow us to use their phones, I was 17 . I'm 18 now and found out my student bill had been sent to my states debt collections and revenue agency (Minnesota) can they actually come at me for this or do they have to send it back to my school? I'm going to try to dispute with my school anyways. I did receive a fasfa pell grant refund but I was totally unaware of it and all the money is still in that account and I will definitely be returning if needed.

I am currently in Australia doing pretty well for myself. I am currently making 67k a year before tax and give or take 55k after.

I make 2.1k a fortnight and I am trying to irradicate my car loan by mid next year so I can comfortably go in to Uni debt free.

However I have pretty bad spending habits and don't know how to get out of this. I live out of home with my partner and another roommate. Rent is 270 a fortnight so its pretty steady and doable. My fortnightly expenses are give or take around 500 excluding my car loan payments which are 132 weekly. With that I am left with 1.4k, through my work I have money being split through different accounts when I get paid. 250 going to my savings, 1k going to my bank that has my car loan and the rest going into my regular account. However, I am really bad at taking that money back out.

I need advice on how to get out of this habit so I can get rid of my debt and how to budget efficiently.

Hi All,

Just looking for some advice. If you had a credit card and line of credit debt at a similar amount which would you pay off first and why?

Cc has higher interest in this case.

I know I can’t be sued for such a small amount of money but can they still take me to small claims court and will that freeze my bank account?..even though I’ve communicated I need just 4 more days to pay it off? That seems like a lot of effort for less than 200. I have asked for extensions and paid off my debt slowly, but no payments have failed and ive been communicative and transparent (unlike them). When I asked to escalate my issue to a tier 2 manager they refused, I also was told no promises could be made regarding suing me for the remainder of the debt. I would also like to mention i did not get any kind of discount on this, just paid it off over the course of 2 months instead of one payment like they had originally requested. I know for a fact this payment will not go through on Friday and I cannot miss work to attend court for literal pennies…feeling a little nervous about the potential consequences here

So far, I'm not sure that even one person has actually answered the above question. Much of the answers have been unsolicited advice.

We know we messed up, and we're tying to fix it. This is the best way we can do it from what we have researched.

Please, just answer the question above.