She Racked Up Over $100,000 in Credit Card Debt. Can She Bounce Back?

Advice for how to rein in spending and create a pay-down strategy

Jean Chatzky

AARP

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Published October 02, 2024

Life events led to Yvette Aviles needing to tap a $50,000 home equity line of credit and then she ran up $110,000 in credit card debt.

Robyn Twomey

The problem

Yvette Aviles had strong finances: a home she owned, a growing salary and retirement savings on the rise. Five years ago, all that changed. Aviles, a human resources manager in Teaneck, New Jersey, took time off to recover from foot surgery and help her father, who had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. On top of a pay cut when she returned to work was her own back surgery, plus home and car repairs. She tapped a $50,000 home equity line of credit (HELOC), then ran up $110,000 in credit card debt. Even after getting a higher-paying job, she struggled, raiding her IRA with early withdrawals. “I’ve always been the person who lent other people money,” Aviles, 57 and single, told me through tears. “I’ve been living under severe stress.”

The advice

Some debt problems can be solved by reining in spending and funneling the excess into a pay-down strategy. Balance transfer credit cards with a 0 percent introductory rate can also help. Neither worked for Aviles. Just making minimum payments on her cards was untenable, with their interest rates as high as 32 percent. And the 3 to 5 percent fee for balance transfers felt too expensive.

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Another option was to file for bankruptcy. “Hard pass,” Aviles said. She could also work with a debt settlement firm. Under such a plan, you stop paying creditors, save up for a lump-sum payment, and offer to pay only part of what you owe in the hope that creditors will accept that. But your credit score tanks, creditors may refuse to settle, the industry is prone to scams, and the IRS treats forgiven debt as taxable income. Not-for-profit credit counselors offer what’s called a debt management plan (DMP). These are arrangements with credit card companies to lower interest rates and waive late and over-limit fees. You pay counselors, they pass the money along to your creditors, and your cards are closed. It typically takes several years to get through a DMP successfully.

Aviles chose the DMP. I connected her with Marla Puckett, a credit counselor with 21 years of experience who works at the nonprofit Money Management International (MMI). Puckett started by gathering enough information on Aviles’ living expenses, income and debts to confirm that at reduced interest rates, she would be able to make payments on an ongoing basis.

The verdict: On a five-year plan, she could do it. MMI’s DMP required a $25 setup fee and an ongoing $59 monthly charge, but it would reduce Aviles’ monthly credit card payments from $3,300 (her total minimum) to about $2,100.

But Aviles still had no reserves for home maintenance and future emergencies. So we took a hard look at her house. She owed $97,000, plus the $50,000 HELOC, on a home that a local broker, Steven Finkelstein of Russo Real Estate, estimated would sell for at least $420,000. After commissions, closing costs and moving, Aviles could clear about $240,000. Excluding maintenance and upkeep, carrying the property was costing her a little over $2,100 a month. For roughly the same amount, she could rent an apartment. Would she consider selling and using the equity to pay off the debt, replenish her emergency fund and give herself a fresh start?

The outcome: Aviles signed the DMP and began making the reduced payments. She also got ready to list her house with Finkelstein and asked him to find her an apartment. “I love being in a house,” she says. But citing the repairs and upkeep, she adds, “I think not having the burden is the thing I’ll enjoy most.”

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Jean Chatzky, AARP’s financial ambassador, is the founder and CEO of HerMoney.com. She is the host of two podcasts, AARP’s Closing the Savings Gap and HerMoney With Jean Chatzky. The financial editor of NBC Today for 25 years, Jean is an award-winning personal finance journalist and best-selling author who has made it her mission to help simplify money matters, increasing financial literacy both now and in the future.