<prompt> Human: Hey guys, Is there a way to negotiate the total amount of credit card debt you have to pay? Like stop paying on it for a while and then offer 50 - 70 of what you owe? Heres my situation: I recently got divorced and had to move out on my own. I just got out of the military and was making shit pay as a Business Analyst because I started at the company as a Call Center Rep they considered the pay for my new position a merit raise instead of a new position. I was making like 27k year and I had to use credit cards to live off of rent, utilities, etc. I got a job as a Python programmer making 45k a year but now Ive got about 15k in credit card debt some of it was from prior to the divorce, I was dealing with some mental health issues. So now, I make enough to live relatively comfortably in a crappy apartment, and I can make the minimum payments on my credit cards, but I dont want to spend 20 years paying them off. Is there a way to negotiate with the companys and offer 50 of what I owe or anything like that? Thanks for your help, its much appreciated.  <response>: Youre going to ruin your credit for at least seven years for seven or ten thousand? If you can even get a credit card, car loan, or mortgage in that time, I guarantee youll pay more than that in excess interest due to your bad score.15k is very little in the long run. You can pay it off in full in a year if you delivered pizzas in the evenings. In my mind, its totally worth it to work for a year instead of suffer for seven years. 