Should I pay the minimums at all on any of my cards?

[NeedOptions]

My wife and I have lots of large balances but also lots of small balances spread over several cards. I probably have balances under $500 on 5-6 credit cards and the minimum payment is around $10-$20. We could easily afford to pay those but cannot afford the larger balances on other cards. My question is, would it be worth paying the smaller balances and not paying the larger ones? My gut tells me that if I start missing payment on the larger balances, the smaller ones wont matter as my credit would be trashed anyways. We plan on filing Ch. 13 in 6 months or as soon as they threaten to sue us. Our first set of minimum payments are going to be due in 2 weeks and I have decided to stop payment on them. Thanks.

[NoTomatoCan]

There is no value (aside from maybe a couple fewer annoying calls) to paying the minimum on these small balance cards. Since you are filing for BK anyway, save up that $50-$100 per month!

[chriselle]

no sense paying any amount if filing for bk.

[researchnerd]

If you are 100% sure you will be filing, there's no point in making those payments. After BK I don't think the lates will even show up on your credit report.

[NeedOptions]

I agree. I will stop payments on all my cards. My phone is going to ring off the hook.

[cjsgac]

I stopped paying everything at the end of Feb. It's weird, but I haven't gotten that many calls. Once you give them the attorney info they tend to leave you alone.

[Faust]

Don't worry, once you stop paying and have money for food you WILL feel ever so much better!

[utohlar]

I agree with faust, Once we stoped paying the credit cards and actually started to grocery shop and not worry how we were going to feed the kid 90% of our stress went away. Just getting over that first hump of not paying was hard. Its funny how we get excited over having food in the house.

[shark66]

Just stop paying ALL of them and screen the phone calls, or better yet put the phone on "do not disturb" option if it has one...

We loved the change. I'm fairly certain that you will as well.

Good luck.

[NeedOptions]

I agree with faust, Once we stoped paying the credit cards and actually started to grocery shop and not worry how we were going to feed the kid 90% of our stress went away. Just getting over that first hump of not paying was hard. Its funny how we get excited over having food in the house.

Truer words have never been spoken. I am struggling this month. Usually we pay the minimums and use the credit cards to pay for groceries and everyday expenses. Since I have decided to file for Ch. 13 in 6 months, I have stopped using my cards this month. I had paid all my minimums for the month as I didn't start contemplating bk until after the cards were paid. We have been broke for the past week and cannot wait to get paid this Fri (wife and I get paid once/month). I cannot wait to use the cash to buy groceries and other everyday household supplies.

[huntington]

My Lawyer is telling us to keep paying!! None of them are new cards, but a few had zero balance for several months up until the end of last year when we had to start living off them. We took cash advances and have been living off that. Should we stop paying? We have had no activity for a few months now, besides payments. I feel like I should still pay, if I don't the creditor will come come to our BK hearing and challenge it! This is stressing me out!! I LOVE this forum...I have had sooo many questions and they are all getting answered here! Thank You!!

[boochase]

I understand not paying the cc's. What about the HELOC/second mortgage if you believe it is unsecured? Should I wait to have an appraisal before stopping payment? If not, at what point can someone stop?

[StartingOver08]

My Lawyer is telling us to keep paying!! None of them are new cards, but a few had zero balance for several months up until the end of last year when we had to start living off them. We took cash advances and have been living off that. Should we stop paying? We have had no activity for a few months now, besides payments. I feel like I should still pay, if I don't the creditor will come come to our BK hearing and challenge it! This is stressing me out!! I LOVE this forum...I have had sooo many questions and they are all getting answered here! Thank You!!

The reason your lawyer is saying to pay is because you had zero balances and then took cash advances. Sounds like your attorney is trying to keep you out of trouble with those particular cards. How large were the cash advances?