Question:
Dear Steve,
I was stuck with the credit card debt after my divorce and had a bad year. I’m drowning in credit card debt $10,000 plus I have my teenager (full time local college student living with me – EMT) I work full time and part time.
Monica
Answer:
Dear Monica,
This situation is more common than you can imagine.
When couples split they create two households out of one that was supported on potentially two incomes.
This leaves one spouse taking on a larger share of expenses and it often leads to unmanageable debt because of a number of underlying issues.
I would suspect the credit card debt is the result of expenses that were otherwise unaffordable on your current income and/or because a lack of adequate emergency savings resulted in the debt. I’m not casting blame, just helping to describe what I’ve seen so many times in the past.
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Typically the credit card debt is not the only overwhelming financial obligation and having someone, like Damon Day, take a look at your total situation would be a good thing to do.
Your possible options here are to talk to the credit card company about an internal credit counseling solution but your monthly payment might not be much different even though the interest rate may be reduced.
You can talk to a debt settlement company but you would have to default on your debt and that can negatively impact your credit, lead to you being sued, and may result in taxable forgiven debt.
Given the potential cost of a debt settlement solution and the chances for negative consequences, it would make perfect sense for you to find a good local bankruptcy attorney and have a free discussion about what bankruptcy would mean for you. Bankruptcy is the fastest way to get a fresh start for the least amount of money.
If bankruptcy is right for you, for less than the cost of settlement you could eliminate your debt in about 90 days, block all lawsuits, and have the debt eliminated tax-free.
Bankruptcy is actually fairly easy to bounce back from and your credit can be restored fairly quickly.
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One of my acquaintances was also facing same kind of issue. And she got some help from some where. In this post it is mentioned the way outs quite similar to those.
Divorce debt.
Answered.