32 and in considerable debt

Let me start by saying that if I knew that was going to be a three year plan I would have had serious doubts. My original goal, as stated on my blog, was to be debt free by 2010. Well we are steadily approaching 2012.

Here is my status... In 9/2008, I had approximately $49,000 in CC debt. I opted to settle on my own. The majority of the cards settled offering settlement payments in the 40 - 50% range.

However, Discover would not. They did offer a .99% interest rate. I sit here today and only owe 1 card, Discover. My current balance is $4800. I am paying $121 per month.

Saying that the past three years have been easy would be an outright lie. I have lived pay check to pay check, fell behind in my mortgage, bounced 50 + checks, consistently worked 2 or more jobs but the end if very, very near. I have managed to save approximately $2500 for emergency. I will pay Discover in full with 2011 tax return.

Some say that anything worth working for should not be easy. I can not agree more. The difficulty and obstcles that I have managed to overcome over the course of the past 3 + years has made me realize just how irresponsible I was. The endless phone calls, stress, pleading and working has and will only make me appreciate the feeling of CC debt free even more upon its arrival in the next 3 months. I am glad that I made this decision 3 years ago when I was 32. Being single, I have been lucky to have the support of my family but I do not have a family of my own to support. That has def. made the process easier, however, I just want to say to the people that may have purposely or mistakenly came across my Blog.. "You can do it too." Don't wait for tomorrow what you can start today! If I had taken on that philosophy, with interest and continued spending, I may have owed $80,000 today. Come up with a plan and go after it. Life moves fast and is you sit back and watch it go by, doing nothing to slow the train, you could be left sitting at the station with your head between your legs...

My next post should be the day I am officially CC free!! Take care and good luck to all that strive to better themselves. Never forget, no one is perfect and everyone has areas that they can improve in!

ok... I was looking at my first entry which was 9/10/08. I am no longer 32, infact I will be turning 35 in Feb. However, since my first entry a little over 2 years ago, I went from $45G in CC debt, to $8G in CC debt. I have two cards - Discover, and NCO Finacial. My balance w/ Discover is currently $6200 and NCO offered me a settlement of $2300 on 10/19.

Wow... It has been a long and difficult road but I have almost reached the end. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I have worked out more agreements these past three years with not only my CC's but with the UI, Gas, cell phone, mortgage company, condo association. I have borrowed a G from my parents which I have not yet but will pay back and $300 from my brother.

However, I can not help but think about the day, the day that is no longer in the far, far distance, when all my CC debt is -0-. That will be a day to celebrate!

Good luck to everyone paying down their debts. It can be done and you can do it as I will!!!!!!!!!!!

My Capitol One Account remains with NCO Financial and they will not negotiate below the original balance of $3500. With fees assessed by CO and NCO, my balance is around $5500. Any thoughts? Has anyone had to deal with NCO Financial?

I was able to negotiate a deal with Discover Card. They gave me a credit of $1200 for late fees, interest, etc., and placed me on a plan where I pay $102 per month with an interest rate of .99. With my balance at or about $6600, that is $6 interest per month. I could not resist the deal. Discover was very difficult in trying to come to terms with a setttlement.

Thanks Jerry. Unfortunately, I waited until the last day to see if that would negotiate as they would be getting pennies on the dollar if the sold it to a collection agency. When I realized that they were not going to give in, I contacted them and agreed to pay what there offer was, however, they would not allow me as they indicated that payment had to made before 7pm.
They would not budge! Hence, my account if not with NCO financial collection agency. The good news is that I made my final payment on a 2nd citicard and have 1 final payment to go on a bank of amercia card. After I make the final payment in May, I will be down to my discover card which has a balance of about 7G and my collection account with NCO which with interest and penalties is it around 5 G. However, I hope to pay 50%. I decided not even to try to settlement with Discover because I heard they are so difficult. In closing, since May of "09" I have ridded myself in credit card debt in excess of 35G.
I completed my taxes with a tax professional and will not have to pay any taxes on the 25G that was written off by the credit card companies as I was inslovent on the dates that the settlement(s) were completed. I prepared a list of all assets (Cars, condo, furniture, clothes, bank accounts, etc) and debts on the date of settement (The date listed on the 1099C)and I was insolvent when I settled all 4 credit cards. 2011 will be a great year! Now I can start to max out on my deferred compensation plan and accumulate a large savings. I can not believe 1 year ago, I owed 45G + and less than a year later I owe 11G. I WILL NEVER ACCUMULATE CREDIT CARD DEBT AGAIN. Around, August when all credit card debt is paid off, I will begin to rebuild my credit score. My score prior to deciding to go down this road was 728. I am assuming it is between 500 - 600 at this point but I am 34 and single and own a condo and a fairly new car. Any suggestions on credit repair?

I settled my citicard account on 12/18/09. Balance with interest, fees, ect. $8212.41. I agreed to a settlement of 3 payments of $1231.86. Citicard was fair and somewhat easy to work with.

For those of you trying to settle your credit card debts on your own, I wanted to provide some insight into my experience with capitol one as a warning to others. Capitol One has been a nightmare. in retrospect, if i could have gone back in time, I would have paid the card as the balance was minimal. In May of 09, when I stopped payments, my balance was approximately 3500. I tried to negotiate a settlement immediately but to no avail. As i waited, the balance grew from interest at 29.40, late fees, etc. I had regular coorrespondance with them and even had a friend of mine, who is an attorney draft a letter. Throughout the months of non payment, I was constantly harrassed by a company called MRS who reportedly attempts to collect for capitol one before "write off." They were more less rude and refused to work with me. On one of their letter, I noticed the following stipulation - " If your account is settled before it is charged off, the remainder of the account balance will be charged off. We will then report as settled with an outstanding balance." I was very angey and contacted MRS about this as it felt to me like this practice was illegal. They would settle and then sell the remaining debt so in essence it was settled because one would just owe someone else. On November 17, 09 my balance had now grown to 4229,24. To avoid a dreaded charge off on my credit report, I offered a 50% settelment on the 4229.24. Needless to say, Capitol one quickly declined and charged off my account. I am now being contacted by NCO. They report that they are collecting on behalf of Capitol One. I asked why they were mentioning Capitol one as the debt was written off as bad bedt on Capitol One's books. They advised that Capitol One continues to charge interest at 26% and my balance has now grown to 4649.14. They offered a settlement of $3500, my original balance. Is this legal. What are my options? What is a fair offer to make as NCO most likely bought the debt for pennies on the dollar. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I settled my chase account. I had a balance of $8,040 and settled at 50%. Chase allowed me to make my payoff in two installements, both installments within a 30 day time frame. I make my second payment of $2,037 on 8-10-09. Citicard has offered me 65% but I am playing the wating game. Capitol One has been playing hard ball but they are starting to soften.