r/Debt • u/Kitchen-Panic-9040 • 2d ago
15k in payday/installment loans..
I make around 140k a year and living expenses is around 4k
Most of my check is gone after the payments
Elastic, Rise, CreditNinja, CWB etc
Should I just stop paying and let it go to collection? I don't think I'll need my credit since I have a house and car already and won't be financing anything anymore and I use cash for purchases. Current score is around 650
Its been stressful and I had them for over a year and lots tons of money but is there any reason why I shouldn't stop paying them?
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u/HoytG 2d ago
There are no short cuts my guy. You make way too much for this to end well for you.
You know the answer. Create a budget and pay them off.
The answer is right in front of you. It’s so obvious. Yet you’re here because surely there’s some trick to get around the consequences of your actions. There isn’t.
Start paying them off and stop spending outside of your means.
At 8,800 a month (140k a year minus taxes) you can pay this off in 3-4 months after living expenses.
Even if you double or triple that time frame, it’s still less than a year to be done with them. That’s so much better than the painful, stressful, and long process of tanking your credit and avoiding the people you owe money and getting your wages garnished at work and going to court and etc.
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u/SergeantGunsalsa 2d ago
Stopping payments might feel like relief but it’ll come with long term headaches. Collections will keep calling, interest and fees can pile on, and lenders can still sue and garnish wages, especially since you earn a high income. Having a house and car doesn’t mean you’re shielded from judgments that could put liens on assets or hurt job opportunities that check credit. If you’re truly stuck, it’s better to look at credit counseling or a consolidation loan with a legit bank or credit union before walking away completely.
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u/Kitchen-Panic-9040 2d ago
I can't get any consolation loan because my credit is not good enough, i haven't missed payments in years but that doesnt seem to matter
i get a bonus yearly and my thought process is i can pay lump sum in a few months and avoid paying til then
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u/Electronic-Bridge155 2d ago
Or you could make payments and then lump sum at a lower cost. Theres no good reason not to make at least the minimum payment until you can pay it all off with the bonus. You just want to have that money now for other stuff that frankly doesnt need to be purchased unless its cheap groceries until the debt is paid.
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u/Sxdashley 2d ago
Especially with payday loans. The interest is genuinely impossible to outwork. At that point it’s better to get it sent to collections because at least at some point the amount stops growing and you have a chance.
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u/YesCzer17 1d ago
Do you have the option for a 401k loan? It's not ideal but the interest rate is lower than installment loans and doesn't require a credit check. It will give you breathing room in the interim but you must commit to paying off the 401k loan as soon as you get the lump sum. Additionally you need to evaluate your spending habits to make sure that you don't fall into this hole again.
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u/ThoughtSenior7152 2d ago
If you stop paying, it’s not just credit score damage you need to worry about. These lenders can sue, garnish wages, and keep piling on fees. With your income, a personal loan or a credit counseling program could save you thousands and give you breathing room.
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u/Kitchen-Panic-9040 2d ago
what would be an example of a good credit counseling program
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ad3024 2d ago
There's an envelope method of budgeting. Get cash. Envelopes for each category. Leave the cash in the envelope until you pay the bill. A friend of mine said it worked for them.
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u/Sun_grown_cali 2d ago
They will garnish your wages after successfully suing you. You could stop paying and negotiate a lower settlement with them…..if they let you. You make too much money.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Ad3024 2d ago
My response to too many bills is 1. Do not eat dine out. Not even coffee stands. 2. I do not need new clothes, furnishings, dishes right now. 3. I don't need cable. I could pay 2 or 3 bills with that money. 4. Get internet and stream from free sites. Do not charge any purchases.
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u/MantuaMan 2d ago
If your living expenses are 4K a month? that's 48 k a year, where does the other 92k go?
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u/RockingUrMomsWorld 2d ago
Stopping payments will hurt more than just your credit since lenders can send your accounts to collections, add fees, or even sue and garnish wages. With your $140k income and $4k living expenses, you actually have the ability to tackle this if you use the right approach. A personal loan or credit union loan could consolidate everything at a lower rate, or you could try negotiating settlements directly.
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u/Soft_Midnight8221 2d ago
Get your credit up a bit, apply for a home equity loan, use it to consolidate the high interest debt and just pay it off. Grow up.
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u/Sxdashley 2d ago
Honestly, I’ve had multiple accounts sent to collections which I then settled for a fraction of the original debt. It was the only way for me to get out of debt.
My recommendation would be to wait until it is sent to collections, sometimes even wait for an intent to sue letter. You should be able to negotiate for about 30-60% of the original balance.
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u/Sxdashley 2d ago
I genuinely feel like regardless of how much money you make, you should try to pay as little as possible to resolve these accounts. 140 K is not rich and it’s good to try to save where you can but for real pay this shit off
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u/Kitchen-Panic-9040 2d ago
I understand why people think 140k is a lot but I used to make 240-300k so I feel broke now and trying to save any way I can. 140k is only 3400 after taxes/retirement every 2 weeks and pay day loans take away 2k a month or so
1
u/Last-Cookie2396 2d ago
It is a lot. What is the break down of your living expenses, bills and debt? How much are your payday loans??
2
u/OMGWTFJumpnJackFlash 2d ago
State you live in is important. Not paying debt when you own a home can be catastrophic. Judgements liens garnishments. Then eventually default on your mortgage because of the garnishments. Time to go on the raemen diet. Tighten the belt and pay the debt.
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u/WorthAttempt5859 2d ago
As someone who has had people owe him money, grow tf up and take responsibility for your borrowing.
You not wanting to inconvenience yourself is not their problem.
2
u/Mundane-Orange-9799 2d ago edited 1d ago
> Most of my check is gone after the payments
Elastic, Rise, CreditNinja, CWB etc
What is the total of these payments and how much debt? You make a great income and living expenses are 4k/month so where is the other ~$4,500 take home going? How much debt is left?
It sounds like you have changed your behavior from what you say but are unwilling to pay off debt you racked up. You should be able to with your salary.
2
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u/Sea_Excuse3617 1d ago
At 140k, don’t do anything for a year. Pay these people off. Best thing I’ve ever did!
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u/VisitDull1373 21h ago
You spent money like you made 200,000 a year. Most of us are going how can you be in debt making $140,000 a year? You need to find some restraint self discipline but most of all a budget. I probably need to start telling your coworkers. I can’t go to lunch with you. I brought my own. I’ve been really stupid with my money and I can’t afford to go out to lunch for a while.
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u/Mysterious-Carry6233 2d ago
I think your best thing to do is let them go to collections and then negotiate a payment plan for half of what’s owed on each. The collection agencies buy the debt of like .25c on the dollar. So they have wiggle room.
1
u/Sxdashley 2d ago
It’s just important to try to settle before going to court because you don’t want them to take a judgment against you and do wage garnishment.
It’s best to hand it over but negotiate and settle for a smaller amount. I’d start saving if you don’t have anything saved.
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u/Specific-Bread-1210 2d ago
So you make around 11.5k a month..and 4 k expenses a month..oh to have those problems...first thing you do is quit acting like you're rich ..and keeping up with the Joneses ...what are you doing with payday loans? Those things are death traps...this can't be a real post..around 3.5k extra a month and still broke... bottom line work on your financial IQ. You can have a great job making all kinds of money but if you don't curb that if I can spend what I want cuz I make blah blah blah ..you will always be broke...my ex had this same mindset...you need to change that...she made 70k a year but spent 75k a year.. her 40 k debt disappeared in 18 months. Just stop the nonsense of eating out all the time, buying whatever you like ..it's those small things that keep you broke.
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u/InterestingTie920 2d ago
Payday Loans at $140K/Yr. Hmmm. You need to do a budget and do a snowball method of paying off smallest loan balance to largest not minding what the interest rates are. There should be enough wiggle room with your remaining $136K.
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u/MiaFixation 1d ago
You should be able to pay that off easy. Where is your money going? Do you track your expenses? I'd spend the weekend on Excel and create a spreadsheet and I think you'd be surprised once you know where your money is going how it is possible to pay this off.
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u/Excellent-Wishbone74 1d ago
Mine I put into a debt management program : yes I will take a hit but they already settled one for 1/3 of the original amount.
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u/willdesignfortacos 1d ago
YNAB.
With your income there’s not a good reason to have gotten payday loans to start with, but in any case you should have somewhere around 4-5k a month to pay off your debt. You can literally knock all this out in like 4 months if you have some discipline and actually pay attention to where your money is going.
You have the income to quickly address this and get on track, time to be an adult and control your spending.
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u/HelpfulMaybeMama 1d ago
No unless you want to be sued. I think you need to pay off a bill each month until you don't owe anything anymore.
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u/Few_Salamander_7852 1d ago
Im in a debt relief program. I was paying 1400 a month in interest now i pay $607 yeah my credit will get hit but what good is the credit score when i cant qualify for anything
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u/Ok-Seaweed-7747 1d ago
A lot of those don’t even report to your credit correct? Because their interest rates are insane
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u/Mindless_Alarm5162 1d ago
Or consider filing chapter 7 bankruptcy your house and car can be exempt
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u/Intelligent-Crew3541 1d ago
How are you making that kind of money and have payday loans? Are you at all owning how f-ing absurd this is? I don’t care if you’re in a HCOL area if you’re budgeting and not spending beyond your means you shouldn’t even be in this situation. You need to sit down and put together the most uncomfortably minimal, literal survival only budget you can and get these things paid off ASAP. I cannot even fathom the interest rates. This sub reminds me daily that financial literacy is truly a dying concept
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u/Desperate-Evening363 16h ago
Your score is not bad but you should not be using credit cards and loans to buy things you can't afford. If money is tight you can't afford to pay high interest too.
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u/Less-Difficulty-1590 12h ago
Many years ago I was in a bad financial situation so I started taking out payday loans, can’t tell you how many but they had me so stressed out I ended up filing bankruptcy and included them in it.
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u/v1ton0repdm 2d ago
Can you get an equity loan? Check credit karma for personal loans. 650 isn’t terrible and even if you could get a personal loan with fixed payments at 29% it’s better than this. Have you tried lending club?
Other option is to let other payments fall behind to pay these off. You can be slightly late on car/mortgage payments What are the balances and interest rates?
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u/Extension-Monk-5736 23h ago
Don’t listen to any of these top comments. They’ve never gone through this and they’re just throwing out hypotheticals. The reality is, you should stop paying these predatory lenders and then negotiate a lower payment with them. They know the interest they charge is criminal and will settle rather than take you to court. This is coming from someone who is going through the process right now. Goodluck!
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u/Artistic-Lychee2928 2d ago
Only reason is they could sue you and eventually garnish 25% of your wages till paid. With 140k you should be able to reduce spending to get these things paid off just live on nothing for a few months. But if they do go to collections you may be able to negotiate payment plans with the collection agencies