“Dear Steve,
I’m 23 years old and just under $3,000 in debt. Most of these are unpaid medical bills–lab fees, doctor visits or even co-pays. The rest includes an old cable bill and old utility bills that were put in my name by my parents at the age of 18. My parents also had trouble with their credit, and both have filed for bankruptcy. I have paid off one utility bill, but find it hard to figure out what to pay next. I do not have any credit cards or loans in my name, and I have nothing financed. However, I still can’t even get a store credit card or even a bank credit card to help build credit. I have looked at debt management companies for debt consolidation but I am wondering if it is worth it–or will they just end up charging me more than my debt is.
How do I pay off my debt? Do I personally call every creditor on my credit report and make the arrangements with them? Or do I turn to a debt management company like GreenPath? What is the best solution?
Alexa”
Do You Have a Question You'd Like Help With? Contact Debt Coach Damon Day. Click here to reach Damon.
Dear Alexa,
Thank you for contacting me. Let’s see what we can do here.
I get the impression you have recently hit the proverbial financial wall and are motivated to take action to dig yourself out of the debt ditch.
At first glance it looks like this might be something you can do yourself, if you want. It will require three different components but it’s doable.
First Part – Get Your Credit Report
Second Part – Rebuilding or Building Your Good Credit
Third Step – ReadyForZero.com
Ready for Zero is a free service that will allow you to prioritize how to best repay your debt and help make the entire process more visual and easy to track. It can give you the organization you need to put this debt behind you, once and for all.
Please post your responses and follow-up messages to me on this in the comments section below.
