Problem

I have 3 credit cards in total. As it was getting very difficult for me to pay the credit card bills, I decided to make a payment arrangement with my creditors. My creditors were quite co-operative. They proposed a program wherein a significant amount will be debited from my savings account every month. The money will go towards the payment of bills. I enrolled in the program as it would enable me to avoid late payments, penalties, additional interest rates, etc. My creditors have also cut back the interest rates after my enrollment into the program. Things were going smoothly until now.

My husband has lost his job last month. He has a side business but his income has dropped. Now I don't have much money to make payments on the credit card bills. I can just cover my necessary expenses. My creditors have earlier told me that they would cancel the program in the event of missed payments. What should I do now? My husband is telling me that his income will increase from the next month. The main problem is his income is much less than that of our expenditures. What is the best way to deal with the situation? Please advice.

Solution

It must be quite upsetting to go through this situation. You have entered into a trap from which there seems to be no way out. However, things are not as bad as you are thinking it to be. You can get out of this trap by taking few steps mentioned below.

At first, you need to discuss about the family income and expenses with your husband. If you find that the expenditures are more than the income every month, then this is not a good newz. It indicates that you don't lead a healthy financial life. You need to reduce your expenses. Budgeting can help you in this regard. You can also consult a credit counseling agency to plan a budget for free.

If budgeting is not enough to help you out, then you need to increase the family income. If you are a stay-at-home mom, then you can get back to work. If you are already working, then you can consider working for few extra hours. Your husband can do a part-time job also.

Next, you can contact your creditors and explain your present situation to them. Inform them that you are facing a temporary financial hardship due to the drop in income. Notify them that you have consulted credit counselor to get out of this problem. Clearly mention the amount you can afford to be debited from your savings account in this month. Convince them that you can carry on with the program from next month.

If there has been no problem since you have enrolled into the program, then your creditors may happily grant your request. They may also forgive one missed payment. However, if they reject your request, then the only consolation is that you won't be charged default rate. According to the new Credit Card Act, the creditors can't charge default rate unless you are 60 days late on your payments. But they can charge the rate you were paying prior to enrolling into the automated debit program. In such a situation, you can enroll in a debt settlement or consolidation program to pay off debt comfortably.

Finally, you need to save some amount from your husband's income every month. Save whatever you can each month. Otherwise, you can never get out of financial crisis.