Our total income is monthly $2,400. We own two old cars, a 2006 Hyundai & a 2009 Kia. No other assets. No savings, only checking. Our CC payments add up to $400 a month, plus rent & food, insurance. We have good credit, make payments on time, but its getting harder & harder as we age.
10k is not that much of a cc balance, in reality. If each of you took on a part time, non strenuous job for awhile you'd be able to pay it off in no time w/o destroying your ability to borrow again in the future. You may even enjoy working part time and making extra money to supplement your income.
Good luck to you.
I pay my card off monthly. But in fine print it says that if I am late one month, the interest will go up to 29.9%. On 10k, thats another 3000 a year. If you are good payers, never late, I would first see what the annual % rate is on that card. Maybe you can negotiate a lower rate. Again, I may try for a loan and never use a credit card again.
It is one thing caring for our own pets because we know them and they know us, but caring for another's dog can create a chaotic situation when we least expect it. An elderly person could end up being hurt simply by not anticipating a certain movement or reaction.
You can negotiate to get the amount down but you will pay taxes on the money you save. So if its 10k and you get them down to 8k, the 2k is considered income by the IRS. Weird, I know.
Call your County Office of Aging and see if they have someone who can help you work this out.
Any chance either of you could take on some part-time work: babysitting, Walmart greeter, cashier, etc., if you have the physical capability? I see lots of older people working these days to supplement social security. How much extra monthly income would you need to be able to rapidly pay down the cc debt and keep up with your other bills? Working might be preferable to negotiating credit card debt forgiveness.
There are community action agencies/community action partnerships (CAA/CAP) that help lower income people with financial planning and financial literacy. They provide free classes and counseling. They also administer funds for a number of programs such as energy assistance, home weatherization, and head start. Check to see if you have one in your area.
If you haven't done so already, you should also check out any state income-based benefits to which you're entitled, e.g. SNAP (food stamps), energy assistance, rent vouchers or rent-subsidized housing, vouchers for using public transportation, Medicaid to supplement your Medicare, etc. Hit up food pantries and also thrift shops for clothing and all kinds of odds and ends. You really need to do anything you can to stretch your low monthly income. And do you need 2 cars? While they are old and you might not get much from selling one of them, it would save on costs for insurance, registration, and maintenance.
I'm an AARP tax aide volunteer and I'm astounded at how people manage to live on the low cash incomes they have, but I think it's because of lot of the types of programs I've mentioned here.
I put your numbers into a debt calculator: if you paid only $200 every month at 26% rate for $10K it would take 11 years to pay it off if you stopped accumulating any more debt.
If you tank your credit rating it may impact your ability to rent elsewhere as many places check this.
Make sure you get good advice. Here's the organization that Dave Ramsey endorses:
https://christiancreditcounselors.org/adwords/
I wish you success in getting your finances under control!