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You MUST get some cash to the CCs. They will send you to collection agencies. I am serious about cutting up the cards, begging for help from a relative and just wiping the slate clean.
It is never too late to get the CC companies to close the accounts. If you call them you have to ask for a supervisor, hopefully someone from the delinquent accounts area, that has the ability to either get rid of the penalties or send you to a department that can, it won't be easy as you are not some "big fish" but as your income is so low you are frankly headed for bankruptcy -- which would not do you or them any good as you'd still be required to pay them back over a long period and you'd have the messed up credit history PLUS the seven years of bankruptcy on the report too...
Get some money together and start calling. Ideally if you could hit up relatives for about $5000 you could keep the train together.
I think you have a taken a good first step, but it going to be hard to admit that you have dug a BIG hole, I hope you can count on somebody to throw you a rope. If you get a job that pays better you should pay them back WITH INTEREST as quick as you can and learn that credit has consequences...
btw -- your career choice is not what I hoping to hear. Those are not "easy to land" jobs unlike say healthcare. You are going to have to bust your tail to make your studies pay off. If you can get some internships DO IT, hopefully you get something that BOTH pays OK and gives you an in for a better full time job.
There is no way I can hit up relatives. My parents are divorced, my dad lives paycheck to paycheck and my mom wouldn't loan me any money (she'd claim she doesn't have it). I know this because even asking for a $200 loan one month was a "I'm sorry, I just don't have it."
I have the credit card companies calling me and for the past month I've ignored all calls. I am thinking I am going to start answering, but I need gameplans.
If I can get them to close accounts, will they work out payment plans with me? If I talk with them and explain my situation, will they at least work with me as to make sure it doesnt get sent to Collections Agency?
And yes I know my career choice is extreamly difficult to get into. Thats one reason why I am paying $15,000 for a one year portfolio school.
I don't know about the scum of the earth line, after all folks do have something to show for the CC -- the Xbox and TV and not my idea of necessities, but they might be of value to someone.
Anyhow, the rest of Houston3's post is right on the money, but if you used my handy little CC payment site minimum payment calculators right Credit card calculator , there is no way to make $800/mo pay these things off, I think you'd have a hard time staying current on -- which is born out by the fact the OP is trying to choose which one to leave unpaid...
Do you have any relatives or close friends who have a line of credit that you can use to pay down one or more of the cards? Usually, these lines of credit (like home equity line) will have a lower rate and you can work out a payment schdule with your freind/relative.
EDIT: I just read the part about your inability to borrow from parents.
After you've paid off some of the cards with the above help, keep those card(s) open, and eventually, they will send you a balance tranfer offer at a lower rate for 6 to 12 months to get you to borrow from them again. You can use this to unload your other high rate cards... and keep those cards open and see if you get more balance transfer offers at which point you can recylce again.
Of course this is just taking debt out of one pocket and putting it to another... so obviously you need to also increase your income to eventually pay everything off.
With where I am at right now, do I have any hope for a credit card settlement?
The begining of October was when I went over the limit by about $50 and suddenly my interest rate jumped from 9.99% to 29%. Add that with late and over the limit fees and I just never recovered. The best I did was a $175 payment in November, but I am stll over the limit.
Is there any way I can negotiate a settlement with Citi? If so, should I call? Send a letter? What should I say?
I prefer not to do BK. It would really be a LAST resort.
This isn't the end of the world. You need some cash to get below your limits so you can begin paying the minimums for awhile until you get a little more financially stable. To get the kind of cash that you need right now, the only legal option I can think of is waiting tables. If you get a few weekend shifts you can easily bring home $100+ a night, over the course of a few weeks it will give you some breathing room. It would also probably help if you could find a roomate, but I try not to suggest things that I wouldn't do myself. When I was broke and in debt, I just worked my behind off and that's what worked for me.
First thing you need to do is seperate in your mind what your "needs" are and then recognize that everything else is merely a "want" and is 100% optional. an Xbox is not a 'need' it is a 'want' as I suspect all of your Best Buy purchases are, and likely a significant percentage of your other cards. You need to sell the stuff you don't need, try Craigslist.
Take all the cards out of your wallet tonight, and leave them in a safe place at home. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES CHARGE ANOTHER NICKLE ON ANY CARD.
You are hooked by predator loan sharks disguised as CC companies. #1 is to get them all back at or under credit limit. THEN call them and try to negotiate a lower rate (Pointless to try while over limit). Never miss a payment and pay extra on the highest rate card every month till it is $0.00, then cancel. Repeat on the next card, Repeat on the next card, and finially pay off the last one (lowest rate) but keep it.
You need to change your habits immediately also. You don't need a $5 cup of coffee, or a $2 bottle of water. Those add up to a lot of money every month.
Credit cars are the scum of the earth and people that work for them are no better.
This is utter nonsense. Many people are able to hold credit cards and use them responsibly without every getting into trouble. IOW, it ain't the credit card company; it's the owner of the wallet it's sitting in.
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