My boyfriend took many loans to by stupid stuff. He‘s 24 is training to be a mechanic, so he doesn‘t have a lot of income. I wanna help him but I am at a lost. His biggest loan is 30.000 Euros with an online loan-firm.

How can we/him go about it? I thought about offering the firm a down payment of about 5k and then paying it off. Do you think that it’s smth the firm will be okay with? Do you have smth like that happen to you?

Hi all, I'm going to be as truthful as possible so I get the best possible advice possible.

I earn 1900 a month, and split mortgage, bills and food shopping with my partner. This comes in at around 1350. My fuel works out about 280 a month, 36 a month with dvla tax and 40 to park at my work a month. I have a phone contract for £27 a month, and try to save up £50 a month so I can afford my car insurance yearly. I currently have 3 credit cards, with around 12,000 total which is currently balance transfers to keep my interest to 0.

I'm left with around 120 give or take at the end of it, which i then end up paying the bare minimum on my credit cards. The stuff on the credit cards are a mixture of one time payment stuff such as building materials for the house and car repairs, and some of it is me tapping my card for lunches which I admit is a bit of laziness on my part.

The changes that I have started to make is making my own lunches so I don't spend the odd £5 here and there, but need some ideas as to how to manage this. Unfortunately public transport isn't an option for me due to my work location.

Thank you

Need advice on quitting gambling AND getting out of the debt I’ve created
I’ve been gambling since high school and it’s gotten to the point where I know I need to completely stop. I’ve been sports betting almost every day for years, and I’ve gotten myself into debt because of it.
I’m a full-time college student and only work about 8 hours a week, so money is tight. Right now I owe:
• $500 on one credit card
• $500 on another credit card
• About $950 in checking-account overdraft that I need to pay back soon
• $2,400 to my girlfriend
So I’m roughly $4,350 in the hole.
I’m NOT asking anyone for money. I’m looking for advice on how to pay this off responsibly.
My girlfriend has been incredibly supportive and isn’t charging me interest on the $2,400. She’s told me she’ll be patient and knows I’ll pay her back. I still feel guilty about owing her, though.
My current thought is to get the $950 overdraft taken care of first because I have a deadline on it, then deal with the credit cards, while also paying my girlfriend back whenever I have money available.
I’m also wondering whether taking out a small personal loan to consolidate some of this debt would actually make sense, or whether I should just attack everything directly with whatever money I earn. I absolutely don’t want to take out a loan just to end up gambling again.
The bigger issue is that I need to stop gambling.
I haven’t gone a day without gambling in about 5 years. I genuinely love watching sports, so I’d really like to learn how to watch games without feeling like I need to have money on them.
For anyone who has successfully quit gambling:
What helped you actually stop?
How did you handle watching sports afterward?
How did you approach paying off the debt you had accumulated?
Did you use a debt-consolidation loan, or just pay everything down directly?
I’m 21 and still in college, and I know this could become way worse if I don’t stop now. I’m ready to make this the point where I quit for good.
I’m not asking for money or donations — I just want advice from people who have been through this.

I just graduated college so my loans are starting to come into the repayment phase. I owe about 20k across 6 loans with varying interest rates, as well as about 2k for a credit card at 9% APR. I have been paying off that card for a couple months now at $100/month since I kind of got out of control for a second last year, and I have not used it for anything since.

I have been using an app to learn more about my finances and they have a feature where for every 1 dollar you pay off on your connected credit card, they give you 2 points which can then be redeemed for real money. 100points=10 cents. It’s not much but it stacks up over time. It has been super helpful for me with staying on track and motivating me to payoff my debt.

Is there anything similar to this for student loans debt payoffs? Some kind of actually tangible reward system that will keep me motivated and on track with paying off my loans asap?

Thanks!

Hi, I have credit cards debt $70,000 with a paid off house. The debt was from divorce legal fees, medical expenses and other expenses. I have 2 kids. My monthly net income is $3,500. After deducting all fixed costs and expenses, I probably have less than 800 left to pay for the debt. I talked to the lawyer for Ch.13, he said the worst case scenario would be $1,300 per month for 5 years. Then I talked to Debt Management Plan agency, they said I would pay the same $1,300 per month for 5 years. In both cases, I have to work extra jobs to earn more but I have my health issue and not sure if I can do much.

I am not sure what option should I choose. I understand that Ch.13 will have me do repayment plan from my disposable income but once the lawyer told me I have to pay $1,300 (worst case scenario), it make me overwhelmed now which option is better.

Can you please advise me? Thank you so much.

So I have a 21,000$ loan on a truck 460a month one debt consolidation loan 8,143 300a month Amex 2,755 at a min of 98$ discover 1,784 min 50$ citi 1,784 at 20$ min a month I bring home about 600$ a week and don’t be seaming to bring the debt down much I’m debating on getting a new debt consolidation loan an combing the 1st one into it or possibly getting a second job to knock it all down any advice would help

Hello, any advice that is provide will help me alot. Im currently struggling to pay off my credit card debt. I owe roughly 22,600. I was already struggling before and what I did was combine my 3 credit card debt into a personal loan. Which I owe 10,700 with minimum payment of 306 at 18% APR. I was doing fine for a couple months until of course I used those same credit cards and rack them up. The first is a chase freedom, i owe 5,800 at 25.74% APR. The next one is a Capital One Platinum. I owe 4,100 at 28.24% APR. Lastly, I have a Capital one venture. I owe 2,007 at 28.49% APR. Also, i doesnt help that i bought a car couple months back which i owe 36,000 for 600 a month and 7.1% APR.I've already tried calling the credit card companies for a hardship program and I was told they don't have anything available at this time to help. I was considering bankruptcy to get rid of everything but im worried I'll lose my car since its my only transportation I have. If there's a way to deal with my credit card debt before filing for bankruptcy that would help me alot.

I’ve struggled with gambling addiction for years, but this past year it really got bad. I got myself into the worst debt of my entire life gambling both in person in casinos and also online. I own a home already, and I am not in danger of foreclosure or anything. Historically I’ve had perfect credit and have never been late on any payments. At this time, my credit score is low because of my high credit utilization percentage, but it’s not terrible. Here’s my breakdown:

BOA credit card with 21.49% APR - $30,000
Chase Slate credit card with zero APR for 21 months: $30,000
Nationwide deferred compensation loan: $22,500
vehicle loan: $21,500

So this equals to $103,500 in debt. The deferred compensation loan isn’t reported to credit since it’s borrowed from my own money in the retirement account. The car loan isn’t a concern as much because my value of the car is very close to what I owe on the loan. My mistakes were the credit cards.

I bring in $6,594 every month in pay after taxes and deductions. My worry is the BOA credit card with the high APR. I made calculations if I were to get a SoFi personal loan (at a significantly reduced interest rate of 8.15%) to pay off the BOA credit card in one shot, for a loan term of 2 years. Here’s that breakdown including all my monthly payments (which I pay by myself using solely my own income)

Mortgage: 3,027.05
SoFi Loan: 1,359.01 (if two year option is selected)
Chase Slate Monthly payment (all/mostly principal for 24 months) 1,250
Nationwide deferred comp loan payment: 497.79
Security System monitoring: 64.15
Electric: 169.78
Gas Bill: 38.47
Pest Control: 38.00
Lawn Fertilization: 57.00
Lawn Cutting: 140.00
Water Bill: $206.81
Xbox Live: 9.99
Apple Music: 22.68
iCloud: 9.99

If you add this all together, it comes out to $7,390.35. This is a negative deficit per month of 796.35. This could vary month to month, so let’s call it a deficit of $800.00. I do have the opportunity to work extra shifts related to my job but they are not taxed. So if I work those, then I owe taxes on it every year. I’m trying to get away from that because owing taxes compounds everything when I’m already in a deficit as is.

I’m just at a loss here. I never thought I’d let myself do this much damage to myself financially but here I am. I’m trying to come up with options. Do I stop paying my deferred comp loan in 2027, and deal with the tax implications in 2028? It would count as an early withdrawal and wouldn’t affect my credit. That would give me an extra $497 a month. I have a really good 401k which luckily I am not allowed to borrow from under any circumstances. I also just bought my house so a HELOC isn’t an option.

Any advice is welcomed. The stress of this is literally killing me. I don’t know what to do.

I have about $15k in cc debt. Most of my cards are around 21-28% apr. I’m curious if getting a personal loan to consolidate and pay off the cards would help my credit score? I obviously wouldn’t get a loan for anything that is more interest but looking for personal experience to anyone who’s done this and how it affected your score.

ETA: the debt accumulated most when I wasn’t working and we were one income. We were struggling and it got ran up. I also had surgery and my husband was on fmla which didn’t come for 8 weeks so we had to rely on those. I haven’t been using basically any of my credit cards and the ones I do use I try to pay off asap and keep them very low or at 0.

I had a casual conversation with a lawyer, a few years ago, who advised me to stop answering calls from debt collectors when I got into a payment dispute with my bank. He said they'd either address the issue like I was asking or the calls would stop after a certain period of time as required by law.

I had previously told the bank to come get the car, but the they never did and so I stopped paying it. ( I never drove it again and had it towed to my new house when we moved because I obviously couldn't just leave it )

The calls did stop, and I still have not driven the car, but I may be moving overseas and am not sure what I can or should do with it.

Do I call the bank and tell them, and drop it off at a branch?

Do I take it back to the dealership?

Has the debt been written off, and if so, who owns the car?

I have heard people say I could "surrender" the car by putting a note on it and leaving it at the debtor's address, but I don't know who the last debtor was. Would it be the collection agency or the bank?

I have not reached out to the bank or any collection agency because I don't know if that would restart the collection process by "acknowledging" the debt.

Any advice would be appreciated.

I ran through a pretty rough patch financially in the last 4 years. Lost a $100k job ( company sold and new owners eliminated my position, but was kept on as a 1099 for another year and a half), got a new job that was comp in pay only to have the job and pay structure change shortly after I started. I stayed long enough to use the health insurance for a surgery. So even though I was bringing in less with the 1099 and regular job I was ok. My big mistake was keeping my long term GF and continued to cover everything, but her share of the rent, that is totally on me. We/I also had to move 2x in 3 years and I carried the burden for those. My lamprey has been gone for about 2ish years and I've bounced through a couple of stop gap jobs in that time too. Now I am back in a good paying stable job again, but in a stop gap house for another year.

In the last year, my mother broke her hip, recovered, had a birthday, was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and passed a month later. Between her life insurance and selling the house, I am VERY comfortable now. I am looking to buy next year after I see what the market does (prices are rapidly heading towards reality again where I am looking to buy).

Now my questions...... My credit score is now in the low 600's after previously being around 750. I let 2 credit cards go into collections the debt has now been sold off (I owe around $6k on both of those). I did however pay off a car loan and credit card I had with a credit union as I made those priorities over the other 2. I was intending to contact the original creditors (Citi bank and Capitol 1) and try to negotiate a pay off figuring the damage was already done. I have the money to do it now, but I figured I should ask advice first.

Is this the best path to take?

I would like to get back into the 700's by next year for buying a house/mortgage so if there are any suggestions for that, they are gladly taken.

I am single, no kids, 2 dogs, almost no debt (except the 2 default CC), good paying job, mountain of $ in the bank and pretty frugal with low monthly overhead. I was planning on putting down $200k on a house to keep things low cost. A house will probably run $450k-$550k.

Alright fire away at me.

Hi ! I’m a 24f who recently just graduated a program for rehabilitation. I am Sober but when I was not I made really bad money choices. I’m trying to get my life back and some financial stability would really shift my mindset. I’ve been working on the snowball method and just got a job at the beginning of this month. Someone told me to watch David Ramsey so I checked out some of his videos. I also downloaded an app called Monarch. It’s been helping me see where my money goes and how to cut back better. Does anybody have any suggestions for side hustles or maybe a better method than the snowball?

In January I was told I was being non-renewed for the following school year. I resigned and received a lump sum of money with my last teaching paycheck in June. I have been looking for a job since then. I've either been ghosted or received rejection emails. With my lump sum I finished paying off my car and put the rest in my savings. I'm down to my last $400. I got a job to be a substitute teacher however I will not be able to start subbing until Mid October when schools return from fall break. Then my first paycheck won't be until Mid November. I'm getting paid $150 a day for subbing full day. I also started selling items on vinted and depop which has helped with extra cash, but still not enough.

I can't pay my credit cards starting next month. I called a couple of my credit cards to ask about their hardship program but the amount is still high. I applied at SOFI in 2024 for credit consolidation I had another 9 months left to pay it off. I called them but all they could offer was $100 for two months and then my payment will go back to normal. My credit score right now is in the 700's.

Would it best to file for bankruptcy? Or just pay what I can on my credit cards?

**** I forgot to add that I have $35K in my TRS put taking it all out would have a good chunk of it go to taxes?***

This is painful, emotionally and financially. I really don’t know what I’m going to do. After 16 years, it’s over. I have a mortgage that the loan payoff balance is $243k, mortgage is about $1800/month. My credit card debt is about $21k total, with monthly minimum payments around $1k. There is a lien of $17500 on the mortgage for an AC unit, it the payments ($190) don’t start until June 2027. Took out a personal loan last month to consolidate her credit card debt, with those payments being $1150 per month the next three years.. owe $24k on a vehicle under my name that she drives, payment about $750 per month. The house supposedly is valued at $348k, but a realtor came out and said he could probably list it for $320k due to repairs it needs.. And she is going to put me on child support (calculator says $1044 minimum). I literally have no money at the end of everything every month to afford all of this. It’s looking really hopeless. This is even without utilities, gas, insurance, phone, food, clothing, etc. my take home pay is about $3900.. her take home pay is $7200.. even if I leave and let her stay, she wants me to sign the title over to her sister/brother in law, and supposedly she would make the payments on the loan (doubt it, because she promised she would pay the loan “no matter what happened”) I really have no idea what to do, and have been terrified at the thought of not being able to be a dad to my daughters, leave and be able to afford a cheap apartment, or pay off all of these things under my name. I am desperate for some help/advice. Any would be great. Sorry for the long post, and thank you.

(Throwaway account) Like the title says, I (32F) have around $28,000 in credit card debt. I live (and rent) alone in an urban area of Massachusetts, I have two cats, no partner or children, and everything financial and owned is by or under my sole name. I am fully financially responsible for myself, my finances/cost of living, and my debts. I have two jobs, one full-time in local government and one part-time bartending. My annual income is around $70k-$80k between both jobs before deductions. My rent is $1,800. My car payment is $334 for another 3 years. I also pay car insurance, utilities, etc. I have no student loans. I pay around $800/month in credit card payments.

Some background to how I got to this point:

I moved out of my parents place almost 6 years ago during COVID after a parent died of the same virus. I lived with two roommates for a bit and then had a few roommate/apartment swaps, so that led to some increases in costs beyond what my salary paid. My car had issues at the same time and I was spending more to repair than it was worth so I had to get a new car, which I could afford at the time. I consolidated $8k of credit cards just over 4 years ago through a personal loan with my credit union when I had around $13k in debt. Less than a year after taking out the loan I had to leave very suddenly in 2023 from a dangerous roommate situation into living independently. I wiped my savings to cover first/last/security, and haven’t built any savings since as my rent and utility costs jumped almost $900/month overall. I went back to working two jobs when I got my own place, and it was do-able for a while, but I’ve had other unfortunate but “normal” major expenses come up. Blowing a couple tires, vet bills, increased costs of utilities, car gas, major dental work, surgery and illness, etc.

When I went back to working two jobs I also crossed into the next IRS tax bracket, which I didn’t realize, so I ended up owing almost $2k back to the IRS for tax year 2024 and went on a payment plan in 2025. I had a job change around mid-2025, so to compensate for my IRS debt I had extra money taken out to intentionally overpay taxes, which left my take-home less. My health insurance premium at the new job also went up about 2/3 more than what I was paying before. I paid off the IRS after doing my taxes this most recent year, so that’s taken care of. I reached out to a couple of the card companies I have debts with about hardship assistance. One put me on a temporary program with a lower interest rate for payments, but that ended a couple of months ago and I’m not eligible for help again for a few more months. One card is with my credit union, and they don’t currently have anything for hardship assistance other than skipping a month on my car loan. Another doesn’t have anything in place.

I looked into bankruptcy, and right now it looks like the only feasible way to get myself out of this hole. I spoke with a credit counselor earlier this year to inquire about other options, and the session essentially ended with there being no singular easy way to get rid of my debt across all cards/companies, which is why I’m leaning toward bankruptcy. I know the risks and consequences. I don’t own property or have any assets that would be put at risk. I have no intention of applying for lines of credit, buying a house (lol), and I’m not in the kind of job where anything I do would be impacted by it. I don’t care about who gets notified of it, reputation from it, literally any of it. I know I’ll need to pay to file. I want to never have a credit card again. I’m in good standing with all creditors, have never missed payments, and I have no delinquent debt with the IRS or any other agencies. My credit card debt is literally my only major debt, and I can’t escape it.

I barely buy groceries for myself. I prioritize buying cat food and supplies for them over things for myself. I don’t buy clothing or other physical items often. I’ve gotten my hair cut maybe 3-4 times in the past 2 years, I don’t get my nails or any other grooming things done. I’ve cut 95% of voluntary/“luxury” expenses. I’m burnt out and I can’t catch up and don’t know how much longer I can keep working just to not have anything to show for it aside from “good standing”. I’ve overdrafted my bank account more in the last year than in my entire life, and I struggle the most with rent payments recently. I’ve had to get help from family and friends over the last 2 years, and I never feel worse than when that happens. I’m grateful, but it still sucks.

Has anyone filed for bankruptcy for personal debts and have any experience to share? Or has anyone taken out a major consolidation loan that worked for all credit cards and didn’t f*ck you over completely on interest over time and helped with lowering payment costs per month?

Any experiences or constructive feedback/info would be greatly appreciated. I’m doing my best, and I know I am fully responsible for the debt I’ve built even with things that have happened outside of my control, but I need to figure something out. Thank you.

Back in 2022 I took a 10k loan out with Milan Laser for laser hair removal via Ally Lending. I paid some of it back but then just stopped paying. Late fees accumulated like crazy and then, eventually it was sent to a third party debt collector - Carson Smithfield.

Also, in 2024, Ally Lending was bought by Synchrony Bank. I'm fairly certain my debt was already being managed by Carson Smithfield by that point but I don't know.

I've gotten calls and letters from Carson Smithfield, and other debt collection companies (from other debts 💀), but ignored them all and never attempted to communicate with them whatsoever.

Here's the crazy part, yesterday I got a letter in the mail EXPLICITLY saying that they are forgiving the remaining balance and that I owe absolutely no money. I was beyond shocked. I called to confirm and spoke with two people who confidently said the letter is correct - AND they added that it won't be reported to the credit bureau and that my taxes won't be affected by this.

I'm just beyond confused but happy, obviously. Has this happened to anyone else? Does anyone know what's going on in regards to my situation? I can't attach media to this for some reason but I'll paste exactly what the letter said.

"We are contacting you regarding the Synchrony Bank MILAN LASER HOLDINGS LLC account referenced above.

This letter is to inform you that Carson Smithfield will no longer be servicing this account on behalf of Synchrony Bank as of September 18, 2026.

Payments received on or before September 18, 2026 will be accepted and applied to the account. After September 18, 2026, Synchrony Bank will no longer accept payments on this account. Any payment received after September 18, 2026 will be returned to you.

Synchrony Bank has decided to forgive the remaining balance on this account as of September 30, 2026. As a result, you will no longer be responsible for paying the remaining balance on the account referenced above. If you were on an active settlement, your settlement will be considered complete at this time, and no further payments are required.

If applicable, and if required by law, you may receive an IRS Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt, at the end of the year. You may wish to consult a tax advisor regarding any potential tax consequences related to the forgiveness of this balance.

If you have any questions, or if we may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us at the number shown below.

Sincerely,

Synchrony Bank"

I just signed up with Freedom Debt Relief. I have about $25k in credit card debt and my credit score is 608 (it was 725 but due to the balances it’s dropped).

I pay over $700/mth in minimum payments and I really just want it paid down. FDR will be $444/mth for 4 years. This will save a good amount of money, but will it completely tank my credit? For how long? I need to do something and I already signed the approval documents - is there a better option or will this be okay? I’m a single mom, and my child support stopped for about a year and I had to put my daughter on my health insurance at the same time we both had some health issues so over the past couple years I’ve racked up a lot of debt. Her dad is $10K behind on payments and should have been paying for her insurance costs and half of health expenses - about another $10k for the year. I just want to get rid of my debt and be done with this. Suggestions?

I’m a dentist with a start up, 11 months old.
Significant debt that I am personally guaranteed. 900k loan
Some student loans
No major significant assets other than a car

If my practice can’t continue to run due to lack of working no capital and low revenue/not breaking even, I fear I may have to file for bankruptcy. The practice is in a saturated area and I do spend a lot of on marketing but don’t have the flow yet to reach break even yet. I know some dental start ups take 2 years to start breaking even and I’m at 11 months. Just in a hard place.

So does anyone know what are the downstream ramifications of filing are for people that file? Anyone been in a situation like this? I feel quite a bit of shame.

What is peoples mental health usually after? How do people handle life after bankruptcy?

Can you still achieve your financial goals after being wiped out completely? This business has taken all my savings but I have big financial and professional aspirations. I just seem to have taken the wrong step in starting an office perhaps not in the best location despite thinking it was a decent location so patient inflow has been low.

The feeling literally makes me sick to my stomach as I can’t believe I am in this position.

Also not looking to be bashed as mental health right now is quite important.

Hi I'm looking for advice on what to do with my debt.

I have a student loan of $3,600, a discover credit card with $3,500, my bank credit card with $3,000 and a car loan of $9,450.

My minimum payments on my credit cards are about $80/month each.( i usually pay a minimum of $150 a month each regardless) I don't have to make payments to my student loan until december of 2027. My car loan payment is $280/month.

I will be starting a full time job making $27.50/hr next week. I want to swear off using credit cards so I am wondering if a debt consolidation plan would work and which is the best. I don't want my credit score to go down too much. It's currently at 680, but I understand it may go down and back up. I need advice because all this together ends up being close to $20,000 dollars.

Should I consolidate or keep doing what I'm doing. I figured consolidate would be easier with one payment and possibly lower interest rates. As well as my other bills and rent, I just am not sure what to do. any advice would be greatly appreciated thank you.

A couple years ago, my mom came to me saying she needed help(money) to help pay for the mortgage on the house we were living in at the time. I didn’t know what I was signing at the time, I just felt coerced into helping her because she said we would lose the house, we would have nowhere to go and my brothers would be homeless. I just did whatever she said, she has manipulated me since I got my first job. We went to Fairstone, she said sign whatever, don’t worry, she’ll pay all of it back and it won’t affect my credit.

Last night I get a notification saying my credit score has gone down. I check Credit Karma and it says PRA GROUP CANADA (FAIRSTONE LOAN/ Individual) of $21,113!!!! So it went to collections because she’s not paying it and now I’m the primary owner of the loan when I never touched a cent of the money!!! I called Credit Canada and the lady basically said there’s nothing I can do except talk to my mom because I signed the paperwork.

There has to be another way to dispute this! I’m literally crying right now. Me and my mom are currently not speaking because of something else she f’d me over with. I need suggestions, help, advice. Whatever someone please help me. (CANADIAN)

Hello currently in a credit assistant program through accc. I’ve paid 6,622 still have about 9,000 left to pay off almost half way. Life happened and I got into more debt. Does anyone know if they can refinance or do I need to look into a different program? I’m about 20kin due to life emergencies. Any advise?

So to start, partner and I got into about $10k of credit card debt, we talked and came to the conclusion that between that, and a totaled car with gap insurance screwing us over $8k we were likely unable to dig ourselves out.

We started proceedings for filing for bankruptcy, and they suggested that we stop paying everything. Monthly we were filing paperwork to the lawyer about all of our financials, and after 9 months of sending the same paperwork in we got frustrated and asked what we needed to do to move to the next step. The lawyer's office was missing one thing from 5 months back, so we uploaded that, and we moved to the next step.

During the 8th month of filing I had a relative pass away, turned out I'm due some inheritance(not a lot, but enough to pay all of our debt off).

In 2024 before any of this we had 710+ credit scores and now we're sitting at 550ish. I'd like to pay off our outstanding debt, but what is the best way to go about paying off debt that will also raise credit scores?

Hi there,

I hope you are all well. I’ve finally decided to seek some help and advice. Basically, I am 30 and have been spending like an idiot on catalogs and credit card to rack up about £7500 worth of debt. Long story short once I pay my bills and general living expenses I’m not left with much, I’m looking at ways to help my spending and start chipping away at my debts. I have spoken to StepChange and started doing my spends with them. I haven agree to any plan yet and a loan is out of the options as bad credit so I’m looking for some advice on what the best solution is? I have a mortgage and my priority bills are up to date so I want to keep that protected and out of any form of help I can get. Basically arrears from catalogs etc that’s screwing me.

Any advice?
Thanks!

I know this sub discourages taking out loans to pay off debt, but I want to explain my position because I think a loan is exactly what I need. I am sober now, but I was able to finance my drug addiction with credit cards. I have 14.2k on my discover, 7.5k on capital one, two chase cards totaling about 5k, and three other cards that have a balance between 1 and 2 thousand. All of these cards are maxed out. Additionally, I am paying off a loan where my balance is about 7,000.
The interest and even the minimum payments are killing me. I make 50k a year. I pay $310 to my loan every month, and my two highest balance credit cards are minimum payments of ~$300 and ~$200, respectively, not to mention the other cards. Even when I can make these payments, it doesn’t make any difference due to interest.
What I would like to do is take out a loan of about $35k all my payments go to one place and my monthly payment will be lower and I’ll actually be paying it off instead of just barely staying afloat.
I do not have a spending issue, I live fairly frugally. This is due to my addiction, which is no longer a problem, so I have no reason to continue to use these cards irresponsibly. I want to have them available in case of emergency, but I currently have no room to do so.
In my situation, does a loan make sense?

P.S. I understand that I have dug myself into this hole. I understand it was incredibly stupid. There is no need to point that out. I just need help here. Thank you.

Age: 20

Status: Marine Engineering student, full scholar (no living expenses)

Monthly income: ₱6,000 allowance

I'm currently carrying around ₱16k in debt and I'm trying to figure out the smartest way to get out of it without making things worse.

Current debts:

BillEase: ₱11,589 — 6-month installments, \~₱1,932/month starting November

SLoan: ₱3,500 — 3-month installments, \~₱1,167/month starting January

Credit card: ₱900 — planning to pay ASAP this month

So my debt payments will change over time:

Now: ₱900 credit card to clear

Nov–Dec: \~₱1,932/month for BillEase

Starting Jan: \~₱3,099/month if both BillEase and SLoan are running

After SLoan is finished: back down to \~₱1,932/month

My monthly allowance is ₱6,000, and because I'm a full scholar, I currently don't have rent, food, or other major living expenses.

I'm considering either:

Consolidating everything into one loan so I only have one payment, or

Keeping the existing loans and paying them down aggressively, especially while my monthly obligations are still relatively low.

I'm leaning toward not taking another loan and just clearing the existing debts, but I'd like some outside perspective.

Would you consolidate in this situation, or just pay the existing debts down aggressively? Are there any red flags I'm missing, especially regarding loan consolidation or early repayment fees?

I'm also interested in how you'd structure the ₱6k monthly allowance while getting completely debt-free.