I posted my other on in the wrong thread

[dilbuck]

Alright here is what I have been going through. I want to say upfront that I am not proud of the way I have handled my finances. I've ignored payments, ignored phone calls, and overall have not handled anything well up to this point. A large portion of my debt is entirely my fault. Now with that out of the way... here goes.

I am 26 years old. I am about 15k in debt. Six of that is in student loans which I have been able to push payments back due to underemployment. I owe another 6k to my old school because I was unable to pay for tuition and housing. I owe 2k due to medical bills. The other 1k comes from an old credit card bill. Right now I only work part-time at 8.50 an hour about 20 hours a week. I have no savings as I have to live from paycheck to paycheck. I recently was hired as a manager which would be full-time at $11 an hour. I'm not sure if this job is going to go through however due to my debt that I owe. I'm not sure what to do or where to start, I just know that I need to get responsible and start taking care of this. Would it be better for me to save up and file for bankruptcy or somehow try to budget my way through this? Should I go to an attorney and find out what they think? Sorry for my confusion on all of this. I just don't know where to begin.

[tigergem]

Well, if you get the better job, if I were you, I think I would try to settle with the old school, the medical bills and the credit card. Even if you file BK, the student loans are most likely non-dischargeable, although there are exceptions...most likely you would end up paying that amount anyway.

I think it is feasible to work your way out of this debt in a relatively short period of time without the 10 year credit ding of a BK. But that is just my opinion.

[Flamingo]

You are really not that heavily in debt and I agree with Tigergem, plus your student loans are not dischargeable if you file. In your situation I would recommend stop spending, maybe carry two jobs for a while and work hard to knock out the debt. Filing BK on just $9,000 of debt to me is not worth having the big BK on your credit reports for 7 to 10 years and permantly on public records. Another thing, do you have family that can help? Maybe financially or stay with them to give you an edge while you take care of things? It's all about what you want to do and can do...I am just offering suggestions that may work for you.

[dilbuck]

Well, if you get the better job, if I were you, I think I would try to settle with the old school, the medical bills and the credit card. Even if you file BK, the student loans are most likely non-dischargeable, although there are exceptions...most likely you would end up paying that amount anyway.

I think it is feasible to work your way out of this debt in a relatively short period of time without the 10 year credit ding of a BK. But that is just my opinion.

Thanks for your opinion and I truly value it. Yeah, I'm not really looking at getting rid of the student loans as I know those are mine to keep. I plan on paying those without a doubt especially with the new job (if I don't lose it cause of the credit check). Any idea how much people usually get places to settle? By this time all of those bills (old school, credit card and medical) are in collections. So they've bought it for pennies on the dollar I imagine.

[dilbuck]

You are really not that heavily in debt and I agree with Tigergem, plus your student loans are not dischargeable if you file. In your situation I would recommend stop spending, maybe carry two jobs for a while and work hard to knock out the debt. Filing BK on just $9,000 of debt to me is not worth having the big BK on your credit reports for 7 to 10 years and permantly on public records. Another thing, do you have family that can help? Maybe financially or stay with them to give you an edge while you take care of things? It's all about what you want to do and can do...I am just offering suggestions that may work for you.

Thanks for the suggestions. Right now I am able to live with family. I pay them a small amount for groceries and extra bills from having me around. I figure if I get this job and see what I can get those outstanding bills to settle for and maybe work from there. I just want to get out of this hole that I've put myself and I am definitely willing to work for it.

[tigergem]

I think a lot of people on this board have done settlements. I think what you have to do is wait until you save up enough cash for a lump sum. I would personally low ball any negotiations if I initiated them. Even 25% might be too high to start the offer. But you will have to see how much you can bank, and then when it gets to an amount you are comfortable offering, put your settlement offer in writing. Insist that they sign and return it. If they don't, no deal. Don't forget to negotiate for your credit rating. I think that can also be done. Get them to agree to mark the account paid in full on your credit reports. Also use restricted endorsements on your payment. "By endorsing this payment, the payee is agreeing to the terms of the settlement offer dated...." You'll really have to do your homework when you start offering settlements to protect all of your interests. On the other hand, they may offer you a settlement first. If they do, I guess you could counteroffer with all of your acceptable terms.

[StartingOver08]

Take a look at this site, it has some very good ideas for working thru the debt/collections: www.creditinfocenter.com Look in the forums section - do it yourself, don't use a debt settlement co.