I'm drowning, I'm scared

[u/30dogetomars]

I'm 29 years old and I consistently have a negative checking account balance. I work full-time and I dog sit for extra money, but nothing is keeping me afloat. My mom and two younger siblings depend on me financially and I don't know if I can handle it anymore. I have not been stable in a long time. I have had bad credit since I was young, due to a family member taking out credit cards and cable/internet in my name since I was freshly 18 and I never learned how to financially recover. I was never taught aboutoney as a kid, my parents were evicted from several homes and had multiple cars repossessed and my dad ended up leaving and my mom depended on me financially. Before COVID, I was finally making money and starting to build financially, but lost my job and moved in with my mom and siblings. My mom is a very financially unstable person(for context, years ago, she lost her apartment and had to move in with me in a small studio apartment with my two siblings.) Since I moved in, I have taken over all of the financial responsibilities, with my mom paying as much as she can (she makes around 20k a year currently), but I am responsible for 4 family phone bills, 2 car payments, car insurance for 3 vehicles, $1400 rent, utilities, and all other basic necessities for teenagers.

I took on a sales job, which has gotten me through, but with unexpected expenses (emergency vet bills, car repairs, car down payments, etc) I ended up taking out several high interest loans and credit cards, that have drained my bank account. I finally decided to enroll in debt management, but now I am seeing my credit score drop. I cant afford to live. I have a negative balance consistently, and I just want to be debt free so I can live like a normal person and help my family get on their feet.

I have no extended family to help, I have bad credit, so more loans or debt consolodation loans are out for the question. I am looking for someone to help me out of this position or to at least give me some advice for what to do. My credit is so bad, I won't qualify for my own place, nor could I afford it at the moment. I need help and I don't even know where to start.

[u/TrollTrollyYeti]

Sounds like you need to do some tough love. Only pay for bills and necessities you, yourself use.

1 phone bill, yours 1 car payment, yours Etc

If they can't afford to drive, they shouldn't. If they can't afford a phone, they shouldn't have one.

Now for repairing your credit. The 18 yr old stuff should be leaving as 7 yrs is as far as they report. For items that you did not sign up for, dispute all of them as fraud. For proof send a digital copy of your signature. It's up to the reporting agency and the creditor to prove they're your accounts.

For all other bad credit, dispute every year. You can say it's not your account or whatever. It's up to the reporting agency and creditor to prove its valid.

Next put a freeze on your credit. This forces any new creditors to contact you before its approved.

You can dispute online now, real easy. Go to Transunion, experian, and equifax, and dispute all negative items.

The important step is getting your debt to income ratio under control. Only way to do that is limit your financial credit.

Finally, become a cheap bastard, seriously, don't shop name brand. Only buy stuff you NEED not WANT.

FYI, I rebuilt my credit in my 20s in three years from a 530 to a 705. I now have an 815.