Eric's Credit Community

Hi there.  I am a 26 year old married father of two beautiful little boys.

In July of 2004, I quit my job as a restaurant manager to start a new career as an over the road truck driver.  Because I was going to be gone long stretches of time, my wife requested a demotion at work so that she could spend more time at home with our then infant son.  Not only was the demotion denied, she was written off the schedule.
 
After a short time gone, I realized I wasn't cut out for the job.

Upon my returning home, we discovered I had some medical problems that had to be taken care of before my doctor would release me for work.  It was several more weeks before he authorized my return to work. After I was released, I still couldn't find steady work and although my wife had found another full time job, the pay was considerably less.  We were in a real bind and had to prioritize where the money went.  Unfortunately, the credit cards were the very last thing on the list.
 
In mid November of that year, I began working for a sub contractor for a large cable company.  While the pay was comparable to what I was making as a restaurant manager, we were so far behind that we could barely keep our heads above water.  This is why there are so many 30 days lates on our credit reports.  It seemed we were always a step behind.

In May of this year (2006), I began working for another sub contractor, doing the same exact work, for the same company, only now I am making over twice as much as I was before.  This extra income is helping out tremendously, but again, we were so far behind that we are basically making up for lost time and trying to pay everyone what we owe them before the end of the year so that we can start 2007 with a great financial outlook.

Here is a breakdown of some things you might like to know.
September of last year, we made arrangements with one of the credit card companies.  This was paid in full this past August.

With our income tax refund this year, we settled two more credit cards.

July of this year, we made arrangements with another credit card company.  This will be paid in full in December.  If we are funded this Prosper loan, I will pay this off sooner.

Last week, I settled another debt in full. 
The same week, I made arrangements for the final credit card.  This will be paid off in May.  Again, sooner if we get funded.

My DIT does not include my wife's income.  Here is a breakdown of our monthly costs.(wife's income not included)
$3696 wages before taxes
$400 truck payment (will be paid off with prosper loan)
$303 car payment
$200 insurance for cars and home
$292 for house payment
$250 lot rent (we own the mobile home, but not the lot)
$150 cell phones
$170(maximum) electric
$280 credit cards (we have shredded all our CC's..this is the amount of the monthly DQ payments)(will be paid off with prosper loan)
$270 food
$300 (maximum) misc for work (I use my own vehicle)
$100 misc diapers, clothes, etc
.=$2715  $3696-2715=981 left over  (My wife averages about $1030 per month...just in case you would like to know =) ) Before my wife's income is included, that still leaves roughly $861 dollars left over.  Not to mention the $680 per month this loan would free up.

With this loan, we would pay off the remaining truck loan, the rest of the CC's and the other very small debts that are negatively affecting our credit scores.  We made bad decisions a couple years ago but are trying very hard to right all the wrongs.  Believe me, we have learned from our mistakes.  With the extra money this will free up, we absolutely will be able to pay this loan off sooner than the three years.  Thanks so much f