Re: Going to drown in debt ryg: Here I go, I don't know if you will get this now, but is it in your divorce settlement that you are responsible for those bills?
Re: Going to drown in debt MsUnderstanding: I am in a similar boat. The divorce is processing and in the meantime all of his bills are coming to me as well as the joint bills. I have had access to the joint account to pay his part of the bills from, but he's threatening to close it off so I can't have access to it. Of course, I'll have to find a way to pay or the joint debts with my name attached will drag my credit rating even farther down.
I never owned a credit card before meeting my ex. I took one out to help when times were hard during his starting up his own business. I paid for a computer, printer, supplies, printing, etc. Once thoroughly in debt, the wedding time came and I found myself shouldering even more costs (I wanted to go to the courthouse, he wanted a big affair with a honeymoon). Now the cost of the divorce has fallen completely on me as well.
I worked out smaller autopayments with some of my credit cards, and found myself hit with late fees when they didn't process the checks on the day THEY had specified. I'm paying it on my own now and told them that THIS is how much I'm sending in and they will just have to deal with it. CCCS is an option, but I'm planning on grad school in a few years and am afraid it will hurt my chances of getting student loans.
It's frustrating, but I've decided even bankruptcy is better than having to deal with him again.
Re: Going to drown in debt pd408: At the beginning of the year I found myself "drowning in debt." When the ex left, he was supposed to be paying half of the household bills, such as the mortgage, car loan, utilities, etc. Getting the money from him every month was like pulling teeth. He could never accept the figures I gave him as accurate, and would just make up an amount. And he wasn't paying child support at that time because he said he wouldn't until the judge made him do it. What a jerk! Anyway, I was forced to move out of our house because I just couldn't keep up with it all. I rented a house (which actually turned out to be better for me and my son) and kept the vehicle we owned together. The monthly note is astronomical, and I paid all of it while he paid the mortgage. And that's all he paid. I found myself using my credit cards like they were free or something just to make ends meet. (Yeah, like that'll help.) ::) And then I had to deal with my kid's birthday and Christmas and all of that on top of the already existing bills. It really piled up quickly and before I knew it, there was just too much debt to even make the minimum payments every month. I ended up having to file Ch. 7 bankruptcy. We had tried CCCS several years ago to manage our debt, but we only ended up getting screwed. His dad gave us the money to pay everything off, thank God! But those evil old credit cards somehow found their way back into my wallet and it was on again! I could kick myself for it, because now I have this blasted bankruptcy stuck on my credit record for the next 10 years. And I had finally gotten my credit rating back up to a respectable level. Now I'm back at square one, but at least I have some money left at the end of the month after I pay the remaining bills. And I know that I won't be able to max out any credit cards again for a long time! Talk about learning the hard way. The only good thing about the whole bankruptcy process is that if I decide not to pay for my vehicle anymore, HE gets stuck with the note because it's also in his name and creditors don't give a rat's red rump about divorce! So he and his little rich b*tch future wife will have to pay for it. :P
Re: Going to drown in debt notmyself: only use CCCS as an absolute last resort and if your credit is already messed up. if your credit is still is good standing it is surefire way to mess it up by going through them. i used to work real estate and the mortgage co. i used told me that if it is on your credit record it is definitely a mark against you. stbx and i split the credit card debt, i got the house and household expenses. i will be paying off debt forever..... oh well.
