Hello.

I have 4 credit cards totaling $ 4800. It is so hard to keep up with payments because I am paying the minimums because its all I can afford. Also, all the cards are just about maxed out, they change due dates, I get late, they added late fees which trigger over the limit fees.

I promise you I am not an impulse buyer all these were car repairs and things for my house. Also, I promise you at least 1/4 of that debt is fees. For instance on this one card I paid $ 47 last month... this month my balance is about $ 150 higher due to fees. This will never end.

However, this situation can not go on. I hate their policies and want to get out debt so I can start saving and more spending money. I am just tired of these people milking me like a cow every month. Their tactics are so abusive, fraudulent and even illegal.

I am going to get a tax refund and company bonus sometime in March. I will use all of that to spread it among the cards. Do you think I should try to get them to accept less money ? I was told that as long as they are getting payments mostly on time they will not have incentive to settle. This means I should stop paying for about 3 months then ask them to settle. I hate to do that but I will if I have to... any suggestions ? Believe me I AM going to use my tax money to pay the balances.

Credit card companies are not all bad. Some will agree to debt consolidation at a low interest rate that can be dealt with quite easily. You can't lose by talking to one of them about this before it gets so bad they are handed over for collection.