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Originally Posted by LifeIZBeautiful  
Sorry, mama. Debt sucks. We've got you beat by about 25k. We are using the snowball method to get out. Have you checked out the Dave Ramsey thread? Some mamas swear it works wonders!
Take deep breaths....
One bill at a time.
Good luck! |
Thanks
I've lurked over at the Dave Ramsey thread and looked on his site a bit. I think it's a great plan, I just have a hard time with the $1000 EF. All I can think about is that I should be giving that money to creditors.
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Originally Posted by zersha How old are these debts? If they are really old and out of the statute of limitations, you might just want to send them a letter telling them to ceace & desist.
Not that you wouldn't want to pay your valid debts, but if they are harrassing you, it may make it easier to put them on hold until you have the money to pay them.
If they are fairly recent, I would try really hard to make arrangements. You don't want to end up with a judgement or wage garnishments. What kind of debts are they? I'm surprised they aren't willing to make payment arrangements with you.
I also wouldn't deal with them on the phone. You could just send them limited cease & desist letters, and then only deal with them in writing. That way, you could write letters to them in your dh's name to make arrangements. They will bully and harass you on the phone, and even lie. But if you have sent letters offering payments and they turn them down, you will have a paper trail if they try to take you to court. I think most judges would not look favoribly on a creditor who refused to work with someone who was trying their best.
So I guess I just suggest trying to handle all these overwhelming debts by mail. And prioritizing them most important to least important. Just try tackling them one at a time, and try not to let the other ones bother you until you are ready both mentally and financially to deal with them.
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Some of them are pretty old, but how old is too old? I think conversing by mail is a much better idea! Esp, like you said, the paper trail. I finally got one creditor to agree to take half now and the rest over a period of 3mos. Which we will probably pay off sooner than that.
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Originally Posted by mtm Get out all your bills and write them down as the first step. Then inventory what you make and start making a plan. Track what you spend each month and see if there are places you can save. This forum is great for helping with motivation and if you get a budget written up, people can help fine tune it for you.
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I am working on this right now! I would LOVE help with my budget! I'm never sure where/what to change.
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Originally Posted by thehippiemama Debt adds up quick doesn't it? I agree with the other posters - you have to write out a plan and stick with it. Making out a budget will take some work, but it is well worth it in the long run.
It was a real eye opener when we wrote our budget out. It made us realize how much we were spending on everything.
Andrea
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yes, yes it does. I think we probably over-spend on some things. Hopefully we'll be able to cut back some to give more $$ to debt collectors.
Do you think I should be contacting all the creditors at once to get a monthly pyt plan OR do you think I should take each debt by itself? The second one sounds more realistic. I can see the other creditors harrassing us if we start contacting them.
What is DR snowball effect?
: I thought creditors had 60 days to get a judgment, after that they were stuck with regular collection methods. Maybe it used to be that way? Gah, so stupid, I hate the entire economic set up in this country.
