<prompt> Human: I come before you as a man who has made many mistakes, all of which were against my better judgement. I am embarrassed. I am beaten down. I am afraid.My wife and I purchased our first house in April of this year. I am the sole debtor on the loan because, at the time, my wife was not working. I made a 3.5 down payment in cash and, at the time, was comfortable with how our budget looked. I then, in what I now realize was a mistaken course of action, started using credit to make repairs and begin renovating the house. My father in law also decided it was time that I pay for my wifes car, so I got her into a lease I know, not a financially prudent move on a CRV. My wife started working at the end of June, bolstering our income to the point that we should be able afford all our bills and more, but by that time it was too late. I was already delinquent on most of my accounts. Even though my wife was working, cash was still tight as she made it through the first few pay periods. I was not smart and allowed us to spend instead of paying bills. Late fees and back payments began to snowball. I got scared. I stopped answering the phone. I stopped looking at bills. I kept telling myself that once I was able to build up some money in the bank I would begin addressing the back payments and my wife would never have to know the difference although she had an idea that we were behind. I never made it that far.In the early hours of this past Tuesday morning, while I was asleep in my bed, both of our cars were repossessed. When the policeman told my wife what had happened, she lost it. I think she realized just how much I have been hiding from her and just how deep in the hole we are. Any and all trust and faith she has in me is gone. Shes on the verge of leaving for her parents house so we can have some time apart. Ive jeopardized my family and my future with my son. To be clear, though, I am not looking for an answer regarding fixing my relationship; that can only come from me. I need help fixing my financial future.I dont know exactly where to go from here. My credit is surely tanked, as I am delinquent on at least four credit accounts. I dont know how many of them are in collection, because, as I mentioned before, I have been too afraid to look at the bills or answer the phone. I need help. I need a course of action, but I am completely overwhelmed by the whole situation to the point that I dont know where to begin. What are my options? Is filing for Chapter 13 really that drastic at this point?Here is a breakdown of my current debts:Mortgage - Paid June July, both late. August has not been paid yet.CRV Lease - Made up back payments with parents help and reclaimed the vehicle.CapitalOne MasterCard - Using 9801000 revolving credit. This is the only account on which I have consistently made on-time payments.PNC Visa - Using 24002500 revolving credit. Brought current last Friday, but new bill should be this week. Home Improvement Credit Card - Using 24002400 of revolving credit with the big blue home improvement warehouse. Not sure how far in the hole I am, account has been open for three months and I have not made a payment.Home Improvement Credit Line - Using ???6000 with the big orange home improvement warehouse. Account is three months old, interest only payments for first six months, after that principal starts coming due over a seven year term. Again, unsure how many payments I am behind. Appliance Store Credit Line - One time purchase of 2000, payments were 100mo, not sure of the term. Not sure how many payments I am behind.Window Store Credit Line - One time purchase of 3000, payments were 90mo, not sure of the term. Not sure how many payments I am behind.I know my first step is to figure out exactly what is in collection and how far behind I am on each account. But I dont know where to go from there. I cant afford to bring any of them current while still paying any of the rest. I need a solid plan for stopping the bleeding and getting out of this. Please, please help.  <response>: First of all, you need to face the facts. You need to collect all the letters that came, and sit down, and create a detailed overview of all the accounts by reading those letters and by calling companies andor looking at your accounts online to fill in the blanks. You can try to do all that on your own, but I would suggest you can ask a friend or a family member to come and help. Preferably somebody who knows his way around money :- You need to get an overview. It wont be pretty. It wont be fun. But you need to know exactly where you are standing now, so that from now on you can make the best possible decisions and take the best possible actions going forward. I would start by paying the mortgage for this month. I think it is important that you two do not lose the house, as that will probably cost you a whole lot of money. You also need to appologize profusely to your wife for messing up bigtime. Personally, I would say that she is to blame for a little bit, too, because apparently she left all these big decisions up to you and didnt keep tabs on what was happening with the household finances at all. But of course most blame is on you, because you were in charge of this and you messed it up. So if you argue about this, dont put the blame on her. But in the future, the two of you should talk more about money.This could be the lowest point of your life. If you manage to get yourself together now and work your ass off, you may very well see your life improve from now on. But it requires action and dedication, plus a little bit of luck, too. I sincerely hope that you can do it. 