I need to act before things get much worse. After a period of several years ago where I accumulated too much debt, I went through a bit of a crisis which left me in a really bad way financially and psychologically. I am still stuck in the flotsam and jetsam of the aftermath. I am feeling like I need to deal with it, but haven’t a clue what my options are, or where to seek assistance. The field of debt assistance in all its various forms seems so fraught with opportunism and charlatanry that I feel frozen in indecision. It seems clear, however, that denial is not much of an option.
I have a couple major credit cards that I have not paid in over a year and a half that at the time totaled $12,000. I have a wage garnishment on 25% of my net wages that I am trying to get moderated. I have a slew of medical bills that stretch back a few years, and I owe a relative $1,500 for having helped me pay a negotiated settlement on another credit card.
At one point, I considered chapter 7 bankruptcy, but I was told the only way I could pass the means test was to invest in a clunker to qualify as someone who owns a car. I really have no desire to own a car, and am not ethically impaired enough to perpetrate a fraud. Also, at no time have I actually accumulated the money to file. The exigencies of life always seemed to intervene in the form of medical or other life expenses. At another point, I considered filing Chapter 13, but again, the money to file was an issue, and since I have no assets, it didn’t seem like it has much of an upside for me. I’m also considering applying for one of no credit check online payday loans from www.elcloans.com, samedaypayday.com, loanup.com or any other established company. What do you friends think?
I`d like to pay the debt down as best I can, but I hardly feel equal to the challenge of negotiating with collection agencies. I feel like a particularly timid minnow in a particularly violent shark tank. Does anyone have any ideas on first steps to take, or reasonably priced, honest people to engage to start to resolve this?