Financially fucked

hey Jow Forums, this is a really embarrassing post to make but i feel like i can finally face it and deal with it. so i have some substantial credit card debt. around $12k or so. the debt is simply just me spending like crazy in college and just having far too much fun. i went on awesome trips and went out to bars a lot. i had an awesome time but now the debt has caught up to me. i'm lucky though, i have a college degree, i have a full-time job although it doesn't pay nearly enough to pay make a dent in my debt and live on my own but i do have the option to live rent free with my parents or with some friends for very little rent in another state.

i basically know what i need to do. i've cut up and cancelled all my credit cards, and am in the process of selling all my unnecessary shit. but since all my stuff went to experiences, i don't have like a really expensive gaming rig to sell to make the money back. i can probably scrounge up about $3-4k in cash though. how fucked am i though? my credit score went from nearly perfect to shit. do i have any hope of getting out of this? i'm feeling a little more hopeful than usual because 12k doesn't actually seem like that much but i'd like some perspective either from someone in a similar situation or who knows someone in a similar situation. oh and feel free to call me an idiot too.

Attached: credit-card-debt-relief.png (600x600, 34K)

You aren't fucked, you just have to work hard for all the work you didn't do before. How much money do you have leftover after your monthly expenses, and what is your interest rate on the card(s)?

It's going to be a bitch op, but paying it back will have to happen over time. If you can get a sizeable chunk of money together you can start to pay it down at a faster rate, but don't hurt yourself even more by getting rid of things you need. Make a basic budget of what you need to survive every month and one small gift to yourself (something like a movie ticket) so you don't go insane. Everything else goes to debt payments on the card. Make sure that in your agreement anything over the minimum payment goes to the principle rather than the interest. It's pretty bad right now, but over the next 2-3 years you should be able to pay it off. After that you can start to save for retirement and a rainy day fund. As long as you don't default on these loans or are late on more than one payment, you'll be fine.

You might look into a consolidation loan. Banks charge substantially less interest than credit cards.

I'm in a similar situation, but I think it's really just about keeping track of what you're spending, and paying off your debt like another bill. Just know part of your paycheck has to go toward paying off that debt, and factor that in.

Also, if that's your debt from college, that's nothing. I'm ~$20K in debt from college loans, and I should be able to pay it off in 2 to 5 years according to everyone. I'm insecure about that, but no one I talk to sees it as a big problem. Honestly, talk to your peers - many of them are >$100K in debt.

One thing I recommend is cutting out the big expenses - I find that by living in rough neighborhoods, not having a car, and not drinking, I can live comfortably and blow money on good food, books, and a very occasional trip.

But yeah, it all comes down to arithmetic.

op here. i should also note how fucking lucky and privileged i am too. this is all credit card debt, not student loan debt because my parents are well off enough to have paid for school entirely out of their own pockets. i have a vehicle that they bought me as well.

i just feel like such a fucking god damn failure that i was given all these advantages in life and this is what i fucking did. but i feel like i need to finally confront this if i want to ever be happy.

and while i'm still getting this off my chest (it's actually really therapeutic) it fucking kills me to think that if i could actually come out and admit this in real life to my parents, they would probably totally bail me out. but the shame of having to do that is unbearable.

So you don't want to hear about a plan on paying it back

no i do. i just find it very therapeutic to just post this right now. it's a shame i've kept secret for 3 years now. you honestly wouldn't believe the sense of relief i'm feeling right now. i'm still in debt but me confronting it actually feels like a fucking monumental thing for me.

I think you just need to get a decent-paying job. When you're financially dependent, everything can feel chaotic and you can feel infantilized an childish. Being able to pay for yourself gives you confidence and a new perspective.

Let this debt motivate you to get the ball rolling on your professional life. But once you have that figured out, since your parents are supportive I recommend being open with them about your financial situation. You don't have to ask them for help, but you can seek their advice.