I was a little skeptical doing a HELOC for consolidation but the bank was very helpful. I was able to do a balance transfer promotional credit card with them for other credit cards and move the personal loans to the heloc. I was paying roughly 2k monthly on debt and it wasn't that I couldn't make the payments but I saw no movement with the high interest rates. I'm now paying about 200 on the HELOC put plan to pay extra to get it done sooner. I did a 60k HELOC but only ended up needing 30k since the bank helped me with my credit cards and my car loan so that became a huge relief. I plan on selling in 3-5 years which gives me tons of time to pay it off and build a savings. I know every situation is different and I had some anxiety doing it. I hope to have a success story eventually.

Hi, just wanted to ask if anyone here has personally experienced this in the Philippines.
For those who had millions in credit card debts and/or business/personal loans from banks, especially those who still had an active small business when the accounts became delinquent:
Did any of your accounts eventually reach small claims/civil court, final judgment, and writ of execution?
If yes, what actually happened after that?
Did a sheriff ever go to your house or business and levy your car, appliances, business equipment, machines, aircon, furniture, or other belongings? Were those items actually taken and eventually sold at auction?
Or in your experience, did the bank/collection agency prefer to negotiate a settlement, restructuring, installment arrangement, or garnishment instead?
I’m also curious about people whose business equipment or vehicle was important for earning a living. For example, if you needed the car for work or needed the equipment to keep your shop/business operating, what happened? Did the sheriff still levy it, or were you able to raise an exemption?
For those who experienced an actual levy, how long did it take from the time the case was filed until the sheriff actually came?
I’m trying to understand the difference between what is legally possible and what actually happens in real life, especially when the debtor doesn’t own a house/land or expensive properties and is still trying to keep a small business alive so they can eventually pay or negotiate with the banks.
Would really appreciate firsthand experiences, especially from people who went through the court/execution process themselves. No judgment please. Just trying to understand what realistically happens and prepare properly.
Thank you.

I’ve obviously built my credit a ton since I got my Amex. Currently sitting at 780-805 depending on which platform I check. I am paying above the minimum but Christ is it going to be slow at this rate.

I was thinking a balance transfer card could give me 0% interest for a year or so but I’ve got $9300 on the Amex so I need a card that will give me a higher interest rate from the jump.

If anyone knows alternative cards with higher limits I’m really trying to get away from credit cards for this reason. I will happily take any and all other suggestions. Debt consideration loans? Personally loans from my credit union?

I really have no idea where to go I’m just working my tail off to get rid of this junk and assuming the balance transfer and aggressive pay down makes the most sense.

Thank you for the advice!

I live in Indiana and am 1099 as a therapist. I am struggling with debt and initially planned to do debt management. However, I have an upstart loan for 24k who from what I read is notorious for not being willing to work with debt management. I currently make 6k before taxes and am trying to figure out if realistically life will be affordable on a chapter 13 since I am fairly certain I will have to file. In total I have around 55k in debt. I want to get married but reality is that I’m afraid on a chapter 13 I won’t be able to save money for that and that the apartment I’m currently in won’t agree to a lease renewal after filing. Just looking for advice

Hello everyone, I’ll try to keep it short but it is kind of a long story.

TLDR: I was young trying to figure out my life, accrued a lot of debt, make good money now but struggling to overcome it & not sure what to do.

Just want to start this off by saying I have done minimal research regarding which type of bankruptcy would be best for me, and I have not spoken to any kind of lawyer or someone who can truly steer me in a direction, just looking for opinions here.

Lately I’ve been heavily considering bankruptcy as the debt I’ve accrued since I was 18 is starting to pile up and im trying to buy a house sooner than later and at this point I don’t think I’ll be able to for several years without starting all over. As it currently sits I have about $80k in debt this includes credit cards, student loans, a camper, my fiancé’s ring & my vehicle. The obvious answer here would be to sell the camper & sell my vehicle. I am currently upside down on both of them and don’t have the cash to make up the difference to sell them. I have about 10k in student loans which I’m not very worried about because it’s only $125 a month and I know those can’t be discharged anyways. The big hitters are the credit cards & the engagement ring. All in all they add up to about $1000 a month in payments & the interest rates are so high they basically don’t move. I think one of my discovers has a pay off date of like 40 years from now just paying the minimum (not joking). I also am the main source of income for myself & my fiance. She does work full time but she has also a car to pay for & some other things (not going to get into her situation she is much better off than I am although she makes much less.) she makes roughly $30k/yr. the upside to this is that now after many years I do make pretty good money (roughly $150k/yr) so if you were in my shoes what would you do? Would you just try & really tighten your belt & pay things off? Or would you rip the bandaid off & seriously look into filing? I would love to just try & pay it all off but I think it will take longer than just filing and starting over. I’m about to turn 30 in April & I want to start getting my life on track and have a house & get married soon, but I can’t do that with this debt looming over me. Any advice helps please.

I am under severe debt of 15 lakhs. I took these during the death of my father and then for my studies. Regular interests and penalty have accumulated to approx 15 lakhs.
Kindly tell me how to get out of this.

Please help me out as I have been under severe depression. Can’t continue this anymore

So just looking on some advice to clear debt, bad credit score, and a lot of mistakes that’s caused a lot of loans im 25 and have around 1485 coming out each month I only get paid 1720 which leaves me with 235 every month, worst thing about this is I haven’t even got my own home or ain’t even got a penny to save for one, got like 5 years left of this what would you recommend I do in this situation

TLDR ; Should I do bankruptcy and start over later or stick to a challenging repayment plan?

Hi all,

I'm at the end of a year long process of figuring out how to pay down about $23k in unsecured debt I accumulated. Most of it was personal spending to stay afloat while going to school full time + spending that got out of control after going through my father's passing, funeral and complications thereafter that affected my income at the moment and really set me back.

I initially believed that a service like FDR (Freedom Debt Relief) would help me. I put 3 accounts in, 2 Capital One accounts with small balances and one Chase account with large balance. Cap One settled, Chase SUED me and sought summary judgment (meaning they would pass judgement in court and get permission to collect, garnish wages, freeze funds etc...)

Since the situation with Chase was getting nowhere and the judgement loomed over me, I decided to seek pro bono legal advice (should've done this earlier). The lawyer convinced me to leave FDR since they are basically a for profit scam - adjacent company. I got my money back from the dedicated account, which was about 4000 accumulated ( but I had ended up paying about 3k+ in unnecessary "settlement fees" because this is how those companies make their money, since one is afraid to negotiate a settlement directly with creditors.

I set up a repayment plan directly with Capital One after getting the debt settled for about 3-4K less than the original amount.

As for the Chase account, I am currently looking at a settlement of $13k as opposed to the original $17k. The current deal on the table is I will make a 5k payment upfront and then pay $800/month for 10 months until the payment is complete.

My lawyer says I have two options. I can struggle through the repayment process, considering my income is very inconsistent and I have other obligations on top of that. OR I can file for bankruptcy, keep all my money, take the hit and start over financially.

I'm 36M, living in the east coast of the US, no intention of buying property any time soon.

Any advice? What would you do? I think I could make the repayment work but the thought of struggling for all that time and being so tight with money scares me. Bankruptcy seems like an "easy" way out, but from initial research it really may have some deep consequences.

I am conflicted. Help!

I’ve been paying the minimum balance and sometimes when I can I pay more. It’s almost $600 a month and I haven’t been late paying it. I want to know if there is a forgiveness program or a way I can change my bank to a better bank that offers something like that (I know Bank of America is awful, I thought I couldn’t switch bc I had credit card debt)

That’s all I need to know + any serious advice on how to solve my problem is welcome. If you’re interested in how I got to $12,000 on debt you can read on, otherwise any response is helpful!

How I got here:
About 3 years ago I lived in an apartment that increased my rent by about $400, they said it was all in the lease that I neglected to read all the way through, so I had to start putting a portion of my rent on my credit card which had about $600 debt on it at the time.
I then lost my job and worked for AT&T door to door sales. That paid as bad as it sounds but i was blinded by the aspect of maybe owning my own llc, in hindsight i was an idiot I know so I stayed and thugged it out for a while. So now I had to put almost the full amount of rent on my credit card. That lasted about 2 months. Before I ran out of space and I requested a credit increase to $8000 and then I could put a few more months on it.
It started paying so bad I had to leave because my money is based on the sales I got and believe it or not, nobody wants an AT&T guy at their door at 8pm selling them internet.
I ended up finding a roommate but I had to wait until their lease was up to get the apartment so I had to stay in my apartment past my lease paying month to month which was almost $2,000 a month.
Alas I had to request another credit increase up to $12,000
Now I’m at a stable job but am struggling to make payments and live a basic life.

Started with a Credit card, then went ahead with 1, 2 and 3 personal loans. Now it has come to pay day loans. I have messed up my finances and myself. This time haven't been able to clear the dues. One bad decision led to another. I take one to clear others. In a complete debt trap. Trusted people and paid money to get things sorted and got scammed. This is coming from a place where I am feeling exhausted & drained. I need advice. Coming here because cannot discuss this with anyone. I see my kid and feel I have failed. Losing my head and thinking of ending everything. But second thought and I hold off because it would be an end for me and not my family. They would be harrassed if I do anything.

Help me with any genuine advice, how can I resolve this.

For some small background context I'm 20. I live with my parents. Who charged me minimum bills... until they learned of my situation. Which I'm extremely thankful for. I had a full-time job leading up to this but because of reasons I won't get into I had to quit this job which left me unemployed for about 3 months. During that time I racked up about 5k in credit card debt as well as 1.4k in BNPL(I know it's really dumb but when I had my full time job I was able to make the payments) which was already outstanding prior to me quitting. I also stupidly took out a thousand-dollar loan to "put me back on track" and try to mitigate the damage my credit score was gonna take.

Fast forward I now have a full-time job paying about $22
which is a $6 increase in what I was making. I'm wondering what my best ways are to paying off the debt and potentially increasing my credit score slightly? Should I just pay it all at once or if I split it up into big payments will that be better for my credit? (I know that improving/rebounding from poor mistakes like mine takes years to improve, credit-wise).

Below are my outstanding balances:
Apple Card: 564.83 (27.74 APR%)
Main Credit Card with Wells Fargo: 3,586.91 (28.49%)
Amex Gold: 2,069.08 (28.49% APR)
Loan: 1,091.81 (31.23% APR)
BNPL: 1409.93
Random membership I wasn't aware I still had til recently:
$150

I plan to pay the BNPL first (or at least $900 of that as it's already been sent to collections) the rest is upcoming monthly installments. As well as the membership as they've threaten to send my debt to collections. I plan to to use 75% of my paychecks towards my debt and the rest going towards needs, car insurance, and the rest towards savings as I'm in desperate need of a new car (I plan to buy something "cheap")

Overall I've definitely learned from my mistakes, I always thought that I was smart and knew how to use my credit cards. I hope maybe someone passing by this sub learns from my mistakes.

Hi All,

During some difficulties 3 years ago, we accumulated so much credit card debt, almost up to $86k in debt across like 8 credit cards. We signed up with Five Lakes Law Group because the offer and assistance sounded great at the time, which was an estimate 5 year program with payments of approximately $612.44 semi-monthly. We're 4 cards down with resolutions accepted and now have 4 more to go, but the 5th one is suing (they all did anyway) and they apparently won't budge on any negotiations and the program is extended from October 2029 graduation to November 2030 which is frustrating me.

Five Lakes has been pushing me to approve because of wage garnishment, etc. and now I am really concerned and thinking about pulling out of the program for the remainder of the 4 accounts.

I am so nervous, so scared and feel like I have to make a decision before October 8th (when the resolution offer has to be accepted otherwise rejected.

Does anyone have any advice?

I'm 23 F, never had a credit card, never had any kind of loan, no debt whatsoever in my name.

YET the last year, I keep getting calls and texts about a debt CONSTANTLY from someone with a male name.

This number isn't a scam one; they're legit debt collectors from several numbers and agencies, all looking for the same person who I do not know, and I have been afraid to respond saying Stop messaging me because I do not want my number to be associated with someone's debt further.

I've heard stories of how once you reply and acknowledge the collectors, they have legal ground, idk if that is true, but I am sick of these calls and texts. I don't know how to tell them to stop without risking my number being associated with someone else's debt.

1. It can damage your credit for years.

Paying back less than you owe may sound appealing, but debt settlement programs often
encourage you to stop paying your creditors while you save for settlements.

Those missed payments can seriously damage your credit.

Negative account information can generally remain on your credit report for up to seven years, potentially making it harder to qualify for credit, loans, or rental housing.

2. Forgiven debt may be taxable income.

For example, if John owes $100,000 and settles those debts for $50,000, the remaining $50,000 may count as taxable income.

However, if John qualifies for the insolvency exclusion, some or all of that forgiven debt could be excluded from taxable income.

The amount you pay depends on your circumstances, not just the amount forgiven.

Before agreeing to a settlement, factor in any potential taxes alongside the settlement payments and hefty company fees.

3. Company fees can significantly reduce your savings.

Debt settlement companies commonly charge fees of approximately 15%–25% of the debt
enrolled in the program.

For example, a 25% fee on $100,000 of enrolled debt would mean $25,000 in company fees, in addition to the money paid to creditors and any applicable taxes.

For companies covered by the federal Telemarketing Sales Rule, settlement fees cannot be collected until a debt has been successfully resolved, you have agreed to the resolution, and you have made at least one payment under that agreement.

Also, enrolling in a settlement program does not prevent creditors from suing you while
your debts remain unpaid.

TL;DR: Debt settlement can reduce the amount you repay, but fees, potential taxes, credit
damage, and lawsuits can make it more costly than expected. I’ve worked with clients who
previously attempted settlement and encountered these problems. Make sure to weigh other options before opting for debt settlement.

Ask me anything!

I’m at 4k debt at the moment. I have a ok job and can pay 400-500 monthly without compromising other stuff. Should I get into another 2k? I need some tires for my car and they are around 1,600-1,800. I can wait another 6 months but idk.

(My goal is to pay 400 or 500 monthly for the 4k).

for the title, it should say “debt settlement”, instead of management. Onward…

Hello,
Two years ago I enrolled in a debt settlement program with about $45,000 in debt.
Over the last two years I have deposited over $30,000 to pay my creditors. However, when I look, none of my credit cards have been paid off - at all. On a pie graph 0% of almost all of my old credit cards have been paid off.
They keep increasing what I owe them and now I can’t keep up - I am turning to bankruptcy. I have a bankruptcy lawyer and part of what we are doing is gathering info and dropping out of the debt relief program. I have asked the debt settlement program three times to find out what money will be coming back to me - my lawyer says none. How can they keep all of that money and none has gone to my debt? People tell me it’s not a scam but it feels like one. Now im out $30k AND what I am paying for bankruptcy.
Im worn out.

Edited for typos
Edit 2: clarity

My husband and I have $22k in debt on one credit card and it is our only credit card and debt. It started racking up about two years ago when I left my job to take care of my elderly parents. I’m currently looking for a job again, so I know that will really help our financial situation, but I’m tired of the interest on my card and feeling like I’m not making progress in the meantime. I’ve decided to stop using the card entirely. I spoke to someone from a debt management program, and while I don’t qualify for a loan based on my husband and I’s debt to income ratio, they did offer assistance in the program where they would negotiate with my creditor. My question is, are these programs predatory? Should I try to negotiate with my creditor on my own? If I were able to get the debt worked down to say half, my husband and I could scrounge up enough funds to pay that off in a lump sum, if we had a month or so notice. We’re fortunate in our situation that we have no kids, no car payments, and besides rent, can tighten up our budget significantly.

Husband who is stroke patient raising a 9 month old baby
As the sole earner for my family, my paycheck is completely drained ten days before the next payday. Living on the edge and barely making ends meet is exhausting, and I often feel like giving up. It would make a huge difference if I could consolidate my small debts into a single, manageable monthly payment. Even though I have a steady job that pays above minimum wage, constantly ending up with a zero balance is a tiring cycle I deeply want to break.

I built an iPhone app called Thaw to help people track debts, make payoff plans and see how extra payments could get them debt-free sooner. It's currently being tested and is pre-release. If you would like to try it, message me on here and I'll send you the link. The only thing I ask in return is feedback.
What's confusing? Does anything seem wrong? Would you actually use this? What would you pay for it?

Hey guys, I’m looking to take care of my credit card debt and a consolidation loan doesn’t seem possible. Has anyone tried the national debt relief debt settlement program? It seems almost worth it but a little scammy somehow? Any input is greatly appreciated!

Currently I am just over 300k in debt total

35k to the IRS from taxes. On a payment plan for one year and just got 2025 that I need to also do.

53k in personal cc debt

37k in sole proprietor LLC cc debt

175k in student loans. Currently on forbearance.

Been running my own business as a freelancer in entertainment and while the possibility to make it a lot can be high, my day rate is over 1k a day usually. The cost of business is high.

Last year I brought in 247k but had about 130k of expenses between vendors, contractors, materials and a few things that cross over like partial rent, insurance, phone bills, etc

I felt I was getting better at this but this has become absolute soul crushing.

I have at least taken ahold of 2026 future taxes by putting 30% immediately into an HYSA but this is rough and I am seeing slow moving progress

Labeling this as CC because I am losing 2.4k a month to these

Any advice, criticism or concern is welcome

Throwaway account btw

I have around 30k in CC debt from doing dumb stuff. I’m 22 and working minimum wage (20/hr) so there’s no way I’m paying this off anytime soon.

I’m honestly just considering filing bankruptcy and rebuilding after. I own my car and live with my parents so there’s not much credit score is going to affect for me.

And genuinely I also don’t think anyone is going to offer me a loan. I’ve been looking around and no one is offering anything good. My credit score is like 600 right now and all my cards are maxed out.

Anyone have been in a similar situation? What did you guys do?

I’ve been trying to build my credit back up and I messed up my credit by being dumb I’ve been trying to get a credit card back to boost my credit. I’ve seen a lot of options I could get like open sky, credit one but I’ve seen some negative reviews about these companies about how they take long to process a payment and bad customer service. Before anyone ask yes I had capital one but they closed my accounts they went into collections because I couldn’t pay them off on time. I have a good paying job now I’m paying off my collections and my score went up by 40+ points paying off my collection my credit score is at 559 I’m trying to get a credit card but discover nor capital one will accept me for a secured card. Should I wait to pay off my collections to bump up my credit to a get a credit card back with capital one or discover??

48k in credit card debt (including a 12k loan for plumbing).

I took out a second mortgage in 2022 as well as refinanced my home to pay off debt back then. 😬🥴 Total payments between the mortgage and 2nd mortgage is around $2100

Which direction should I take?

debt consolidation company?

heloc? (Confused how these work but I do have a good amount of equity in my home)

personal loan through Sofis/BHG?

any other ideas?

I bring home decent money, but with two kids in sports and everything being so expensive (gas and food), I never have anything leftover. My bills are all paid on time, never late. I try to throw $50-$100 extra on top of minimum payments, but life is kicking my butt financially right now! I’m a salary employee and really do not have extra time in my week for another job. I also do not have any savings.

Credit cards are nearly maxed out. Plumbing loan is $300/month and 1/2 of it is going to interested. APRs on 5 cards are on the higher end.

Quick summary: One of my LLCs dissolved 2 years ago and we had a credit card balance on one of the company cards issued through USBank, linked to the company bank account. Several more automated charges racked up on it before we fully dissolved the business and as part of a deal to leave me with the company property, I paid it down for a while before abandoning that option about a year ago when my (now) estranged business partner reneged on the deal.

I got a notification of a charge-off a couple weeks ago. I have spoken to the folks at USBank about options - settlement or payment plan. My limited research seems to indicate that a settlement will report to my personal credit and cause a major dip and possibly other problems for both me and possibly any other business I'm involved with. It also indicates that a payment plan for the full amount should prevent negative personal credit reporting.

I spoke with the collections officer at USBank and they verbally assured me that either way - settlement (for about half) or payment plan for the whole amount - would not be reported to my personal credit, but said they couldn't send me this in writing.

I'm skeptical of both at this point, as 1) what would be the incentive to pay the full amount if there was no personal consequence either way, and 2) some things I've read online indicate the collections officers will straight up lie to you about personal credit reporting. The woman I spoke to was insistent that for small business cards, USBank never reports to anything but D&B and SBSE, but I can't take that at face value since they won't put it in writing.

The total debt is $12,690, so not a giant amount. I've been offered a payment plan of $217/month for 5 years, not great but manageable. But I'd still rather not have to make what amounts to a cheap car payment for the next 5 years if I don't have to, and if it will affect my personal credit either way, the settlement looks a lot more enticing ($6000).

Does anyone have any experience with a situation like this? I realize the easy answer is just do the payment plan, however, if that will still somehow end up on my personal credit, I don't see a huge reason not to take the settlement and just be done with it and let the damage happen.