<prompt> Human: Hey guys, my husband and I had an adorable little baby 9 months ago. Due to complications with the birth and then loss of childcare I was out of work for too long and we are about 15,000 in credit debt that we just cant get a handle on. We really want to buy a house in the next few years. My husbands job is full time and Im working on getting back to full time myself but we just cant see ourselves being able to make so many monthly payments for a while. Have any of you worked with debt consolidation companies? Our credit scores are only in the 580s right now so a loan isnt really an option from what I understand. We know we messed up...any advice on how to climb out of the hole would be great. We know its going to be hard, we just need to get our heads above water!  <response>: You can contact your creditors and ask about a hardship program. I have done this with some credit card companies in the past, and they will occasionally offer the option to lower your interest rate while you pay off the card or debt usually for about a year. I know my creditors closed the cards temporarily while I paid them off, and then gave me the option to open it up when the program was done. One creditor lowered the interest rate from the penalty rate from late payments of 29.9 to 7.99 for 12 months, which really let me make some significant progress on paying off the debt.Since you dont really have the credit scores for it, a balance transfer or a consolidation loan is probably not going to be your best bet, and a mortgage probably wont happen in your future very soon until your credit scores improve, which will happen over time as you pay off your debts.The hardest part is going to be staying motivated and sticking with a plan. You may want to try the envelope system or YNAB to keep a good budget. Pay off your highest interest rate debts first, unless you have any small debts you can take care of very quickly, as it would free up the minimum payment and reduce your monthly obligations in case of an emergency. You can do this! Read though some of the Triumphant Thursday posts whenever youre feeling unmotivated; its great to see the progress that everyone makes. Good luck! 