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Should I file bankruptcy, negotiate my interest rate down or stop paying the debt?

Asked over 3 years ago - Philadelphia, PA

I am carrying a large debt burden and need to do something quick. What should I do?

Home Mortgage (interest only) $ 250,000 at $1,400.00 per month
Credit Card debt at 7.75% 48,500.00 with interest payment of $ 300.00 each month, i send 500.00 per month
Car Loan 10,200.00 with payment at $ 380.00 per month
Truck Loan 15,000.00 with payment at $ 312.00 per month
Vehicle Insurance $ 125.00 per month
Utilities at $ 400.00 per month
Groceries/Vehicle Gas/Phone/Misc at $700.00 per month

My take home income per month is $ 3,700.00

As you will see i am in the negative every month. I am about (2) months away and my savings will be down to $0.00 then i will be in the red from then out. I want to avoid bankruptcy if i can because i feel these debts are my mistake and want to satisfy them but the reality is i am sinking deeper into debt every month.

I have tried negotiating my interest rates to 0.00 but none of the companies are willing to work with me.

Currently all of my payments are made by the due date so i am not behind yet. I have to have the truck for work and have had the car forsale for 6 months with no bites.

Please help!

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Attorney answers (1)

Gabriel Cheong

Reputation Level 15

Answered over 3 years ago. Divorce / Separation Lawyer in Quincy, MA.

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Note that I am not licensed to practice in your state.

Your expenses are $3617/month and your income is $3700/month. If you pay the minimum on your credit card, you are barely making it with no wiggle room whatsoever.

I would like to see you pay the minimum payments on your credit card for now. Get your car sold. How are you selling the car? Have you tried craigslist.org? You need to sell that extra car ASAP. At that point, you will have more money to put towards credit cards. Your insurance will also go down presumably and you can use the extra money to pay your credit cards as well.

You're barely making it but you're not in a completely upside down situation yet. Once you get your car sold, I think you'll be able to slowly but surely pay down the credit card debt.

If you're able, I would try to open up a 0% or low interest balance transfer credit card and see if I can transfer all or part of the credit card balance onto this low or 0% interest credit card. That way, you are making less in payments because you're saving on interest.

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