I want to get some tips to eliminate credit card debt. How I can I avoid the credit card debt? Can I maintain zero balance in credit card?

No, the zero balance will not eliminate your debt. It is not a good idea to eliminate your problem. First you should control yourself to avoid the credit card debt. First try to live on the money in your pocket. Calculate your expense and spend according to that. Always try to pay ready cash.

I am in a situation where I am going to need to file for bankruptcy. I use credit to get by and struggle to make any more than the minimum payments.

I met with a credit counsellor about my options but had to use credit to buy my children fall/winter clothes and back-to-school items.

Does anyone know how long I should wait after making these purchases before filing bankruptcy? I do not want to be accused of fraud.

I will be making my minimum payments before filing bankruptcy.

I am not an attorney, but I believe that the BK Court can go back 6 months (maybe 12 in some cases).

If you recently charged anything (within the look back period) and file BK, that part you charged is EXEMPT from BK and you have to pay it all with interest.

I would seek advice from several attorneys before doing anything.

EDIT - follow up:
It does not make scene to make min payments before filling for BK. It only makes sense to make payments if plan NOT to file for bankruptcy.

I am filling for bankruptcy because of this huge hospital bill that I can not pay. Will the bankruptcy be an issue during my background investigation for the police?

"Princess Of God"? The bankruptcy may not hurt your chances as much as the "Vanity" (excuse me if the is just the Biblical definition of your Name) Answer, a credit check is a standard part of a "Background Check". Depending on "the Department" and the circumstances of your bankruptcy it may not be a factor. Departments that are "not short" of applicants may use this as a "early discriminator" during evaluation so you may not get an "oral interview" and therefore a chance to explain in person.

Other departments, usually smaller and with lower pay scales may not be as discriminating when it comes to credit. I know some people that had cars repossessed, credit card debt, prior garnishments, etc that still made it on with a department. Also, with sheriff’s departments, one can often get their "foot in the door" by applying for and becoming a "Jailer" or "Detention Officer’, lower pay and in some case less demanding hiring requirements (except criminal of course). Do a excellent job, do your time in the jail, and you may get a shot at the full academy and position as a full or Road Deputy!

In law gets an annuity check each month and thinks this collection agency is going to get her government check. Can this happen?

If the collection agency first gets a court judgment, they can attach bank accounts. They cannot directly intercept a Social Security check.

I took out a payday loan for a friend who didn’t pay it back, now the creditor is calling me demanding I call them back to make payment or they will contact my boss to my information from them. I have already sent them a certified letter asking them to stop the calls that when I have the money I will contact them, but then he called me saying that he’s was giving me until a certain day and time to call him back or he was going to contact my boss. Can he really do that? Isn’t this considerd harassment?

The FDCPA applies to third party collection agencies, not the original creditor. Sending a cease and desist letter to the original creditor is useless.

Payday loan companies do not play fair. They give a whole new meaning to "aggressive". They will undoubtedly call your boss about your debt, even if it is illegal. Yes, they will definitely "harrass" you. Figure out some way to pay them off. Then sue your friend in small claims for repayment.

It is never a good idea to co-sign or loan your credit to someone. But getting a payday loan for a friend is one of the absolutely stupidest things I have ever heard. People with really bad credit can qualify for payday loans. Your friend’s credit was soooo bad he couldn’t even get a payday loan on his own? And you thought he would pay it off cause it’s in your name??

My husband and i would like to sell our place and buy another place,however our debt income ratio is too high right now.
What would be better to pay off to lower our debt to help us move. Would it be better to pay off all our credit card / loan debt or one of our vehicles?
all our credit card/loan debt equals to around $10,000 and our vehicle is about $25,000

Thank you all for your help
i should also add that our credit card interest rate on everything is 19.9 % and up and our vehicle interest rate is 15%

As mentioned - it’s best to pay off the higher interest as it would cost you more money that you otherwise wouldn’t pay.

I’m a little confused however - do you have enough to pay off the full amount of the car? if you do, then maybe fully paying off the car would be your best bet to get that new house. no car payments = bigger repayments on your credit card AND your debt to income ratio will change more significantly.

You also have to understand that debt - does not mean you will have a low credit score. Missing a payment does however lower it.

Maybe holding off on a another house and upgrading your current one may be a better option for the time being. Let the market come up a little, and have a better valued place to sell may work in your favor.

Best of luck!

Yeah, that’s pretty much it - does the fact that the collection agency has the debt effect my score, or does that only happen if they report it to the credit agencies?

Thanks for any help and advice!

It really depends on what type of debt it is, let’s say it’s something small like a doctor’s bill that has been turned over to a collection agency. At the point its turned over, no it doesn’t affect your score right away and you still have a chance to keep it from being reported on your credit.
But, if its something like a car note or something that was financed the original creditor would have reported the lateness to the credit bureaus before they actually closed the account and turned it over to the credit agency resulting in late payments to show up from the original creditor and then the collections entry to your credit report, now you have a double whammy situation.
Try to work with the collections agency before they report to the bureau.

Are there any lawyers out there who practice bankruptcy who could tell me how difficult it would be to start a solo bankruptcy practice and how I might go about doing this. First, is this the kind of think that I could figure out with form books and software or should I work in a firm first? Also, could I mainly do Chapter 7’s or do I really need to do all kinds to stay afloat? Any helpful info by experienced bankruptcy lawyers would be greatly appreciated! I’m licensed in Mississippi if that helps.

There is a lot that law school doesn’t teach about the practice of law. I would get a job with a firm for a few years if possible. It will give you basic knowledge, and can give you time to build a good reputation, the most important asset you have.

There is a decent book about building a solo practice. I will look for the author’s name and try to post it in an edit.
I was with a large firm from 75 to 96 and have been a sole practitioner since 96, but not in bankruptcy.

edit:
"How to Start and Build a Law Practice, 4th ed., by Jay G. Foonberg, Chicago, IL: American Bar Association, Law Student Division, Section of Law Practice Management, 1999.
This book is organized into ten parts: getting started; getting located; getting equipped; getting clients; setting fees; managing the law office; ethics and professional responsibility; resources and advice; a management checklist; and a section on quality of life. Using a "nuts and bolts" approach, the author devotes short sections within each chapter to considerations ranging from postage to insurance to Christmas cards. "

Ours is the only listed phone number with our family name. Our extended family members have delinquent accounts and because of this, we receive numerous calls from their debt collectors. They leave mean messages assuming that they have reached their customer. It is so annoying and once they get a message, they continue to call back. We’ve tried to call the agency and tell them to remove us but it’s very difficult when they call from phone banks and such. We also relay the information to our family member in the hopes that they take care of the account.

Couple thoughts. Sounds like you’ve told them to put you on their Do Not Call list, which is typically a state and/or federal law. Google it for your state and find out. They’re required by law to comply. Secondly check out the "Fair Debt Collection" law (I think that’s the correct name of it) - there are laws about what time of day they can call, and that they cannot be abusive. In fact some of these laws stipulate if the call occurs past a certain hour of the day, it’s considered abuse. Other ideas: When you tell them next time to stop calling you - ask for a manager and tell them you are reporting them to your State Attorney General. (that usually works). Lastly; just an idea we used because we had just a guy calling us who kept asking for "Joe"…eventually my husband answered the phone (cause by this time we recognized the number) "Burger King". After doing this a few times, the guy figured he had the wrong number and stopped calling. Good luck!

I have a lot of debt spread out among credit cards, private loans, hospital bill, etc. Is it possible for me to consolidate all of that into one payment each month? I have trouble keeping on top of all of my bills because none of them fall on the same day. Does this seem like a good option? Also, who/what company is reliable for debt consolidation?

“Debt consolidation” can refer to two completely different things: The first is getting a loan to pay off all debts to consolidate your bills into one lower payment. If you do this, go through a local bank that you know and trust. Stay away from online firms. You need to have good credit to get this type of loan. Many people who get debt consolidation loans quickly find themselves in twice as much debt as when they started….because it’s simply too tempting to start using all that newly available credit that was paid by the consolidation loan. If you get this type of loan, contact your credit card companies after the debt has been paid off by the loan and request voluntary credit limit reductions to under $500 to avoid the temptation of using all that newly available credit again.

Debt consolidation also refers to a risky practice of debt settlement: deliberately defaulting on your credit cards to try to force your creditors to settle for less.

When you sign up with a debt consolidation firm, the program involves deliberately ceasing payments to all your creditors to force your accounts into default to attempt settlements for less. You pay a monthly fee to a debt consolidator….this entire fee goes towards building a settlement account and to the consolidator’s fees to “settle” your accounts in the future. Your credit card companies will deliberately not be paid so that all the accounts will default/charge-off so that they can attempt settlements at around 50%. If you are current on your accounts, this process will ruin your credit rating. You can never predict how your creditors will respond to the deliberate defaulting of your accounts…they might settle at 50%…or they might serve you a summons, take you to court…and if they win, you could be looking at wage garnishment.