Not sure how to proceed... (pay, million, rent, debts)

[rubicundheart]

Last December, I quit my job waitressing (where I went from making $1400 a month to making $400 a month due to moving to a new city) in favor of working for a web design company that I had already worked with for 2+ years previously that was going to be paying me enough to get by on. By Feb, after a few months of bad business practices by my boss (he gave 3+ clients their projects without having recieved payment from them, and continued to do work for them without them having paid since October), I was informed I needed to find other work. He owes me roughly $1400, which I have yet to recieve.

After about a month of job hunting, I finally got a minimum wage job with food service. The day before I started my job, I fell down the stairs injuring my back. I was able to work for a few weeks full time before I wasn't able to stand anymore (this money went towards food and what I owed my roommates for paying my rent for me.) I started going to a chiropractor, who recommeded that I only work 4 hours a day, at the risk of my back no longer being able to heal and becoming potentially paralyzed from the waist down if there was an accident at work. I stopped getting scheduled at my job, for fear of injuring myself on the job, so I left that job and moved back home. I've been looking for computer work, and haven't been able to find anything, so I am starting to work for myself until I find something better.

The problem is, it's been a year since I've paid any bills, and I'm not sure where to start. I have roughly $10k in debt (two credit cards, two in-store LOC, my cellphone, a student loan, plus a few hundred dollars I owe my prior roommates.) All of my credit card accounts have been closed by the companies (so no need to cut up my credit cards, they're already gone), and once my phone was shut off and I moved, I wasn't able to recieve calls or bills from collections to know exactly what's going on. All of the money I'm making from projects are going directly towards paying off my debt, but I'm not sure how to go about contacting the companies I owe money to, if I've lost the right to negotiate anything since I've disappeared for a year, and what the best way to go about paying for things is (make payments to EVERYONE? Focus on one?)

[chet everett]

My advice would be move to Hollywood. Hook up with a screenwriter. Weave an unplanned pregnancy of love affair into this, change your name to something like Diablo and you'll be set for life...

No offense, by why would you want to try and make payment on stuff now? Nobody is actively looking for you, if /when they do it will be more hassle for them to try and collect than it is worth.

I normally do recommend that people try to keep their credit clear, but that is when they are living a mostly legitimate existence and want to do things like save up to buy for house. Does not sound that describes you...

A year since you paid ANY bills? Why not make it 7, you credit history will be like a newborns...

[FreeSpirited1]

Sounds like your heart is in the right place, but I'd focus on healing and YOU right now.

Your credit is likely pretty bad right now, so I'd go to the federal site:

https://www.annualcreditreport.com

get your credit reports and see who has listed what debts on your 3 reports.

There are countless sites to help you negotiate debt on your own; my question is, can you earn what it will take to repay the debts? If you can, then great. If you cannot, then you will be among the millions of uninsured Americans who are forced to file bankruptcy due, in part, to lack of proper medical care or ability to have proper insurance (ie you did not have disability insurance, so...)

They haven't made it against the law to file, it's only slightly more detailed, but you are well within your rights to file - you can't let this debt swallow your life, b/c it will. You will still owe any government-related debt (school loans, judgements, fines, etc.) however.

I suggest this only in the event that you will not be in a position to earn enough soon enough to pay back your debts. Credit card companies are not known for their forgiving natures, mind you.

I sympathize with your daring to work for a start-up but in these shaky times we live in, I would say go for more solid work to make it less likely that you would end up in debt to this degree again.

Please look at your circumstances with clarity and decide if you can pay this debt back or if you might be best off to file Chapter 7.

Best of Luck to you and I hope things turn around for you!