What if you can't male minimum CC payment

[mintz]

What happens if you get your CC statement and it is for (example) $400 as a minimum payment and all you can afford to pay this moth is $200. I know it will reflect on your credit but does that hurt you worse if you file for a bk later down the road?

[Bandit]

I did that for a couple of months just before I stoped paying. They accepted it just fine the first couple of times then they start getting mad & the rates go up & the minimum gets bigger. The moment I could not pay was a very hard time for me to get through. I remember crying a few times at that point.

If you owe 400 dollars min. & you cannot make the payment, then why not just send 50.00 or 25.00?..and stock up on some groceries & soap instead... considering you plan to file BK, you eventually stop paying CC debt all together.

Some people say to stop making payments now, depending on your situation, maybe make one or two more short payments and then stop. I do believe that helps keep them off your tail and buys yourself a couple of months of time if you need to wait a little longer before filing and you do not want the phone calls & collections right away.

so what are you thinking time wise? are you trying to file as current as possible on all your bills?

as a general rule, That should not make it worse or better in BK.

That is not advice, rather how I handled it when I got to that point of not being able to pay the minimum any longer.

[StartingOver08]

I tried to work out an agreement with the hardship dept of the cc companies for a year before I filed. I was successful with Chase and BOA. They dropped the rate to 2% and 4%, which dropped the min payments substantially. I made those payments until I realized I was going to have to file. Prior to that realization, I really thought I could work my way out of it. I stopped paying about 3 months prior to filing. Some people stop payments for many months prior to actually filing.

Once you know filing is a definate, then why throw money away. It does not really matter to the cc people if you file on $100 or $1000 or $100,000 - they hit your CR with the same impact. What does matter is the timing of the payments and the timing of your filing in relation to the last charge, cash advance or balance transfer.

[mintz]

At this point I am not sure what we are going to do. I only know it will get worse as our savings gets drained. We will try our best to make the minimum payments the best we can. We have spoken about filing in May or June but I am uncertain if we will make it that long due to our new income and the way the job market is.

[StartingOver08]

Maybe you should consider not making any more payments on unsecured debt. Then you can conserve the cash you have to make it to June next year. The cc's are unhappy with any payment less than the minimum, so don't pay anything. Once you know you have to file, paying the unsecured debt is not helpful, unless you made a recent charge.

[mintz]

Once you know you have to file, paying the unsecured debt is not helpful, unless you made a recent charge.

Does this mean 90 days before i file or 6 months. We HAVE to use our cc to assist with our holiday shopping. I DO NOT want to come across as fraud. Yesterday I had to use my cc to buy some groceries plus my home taxes are due in January and that will be $3500