<p>My parent, who lives in another country, has been recently laid off from work there. The said parent has a credit card debt of about 20K in the US, and the combined minimum monthly payments are as high as $500. Absolutely no money will be coming in here, and my own college/rent/food expenses make it impossible for me to cover any parts of those payments. I’m looking for another job, but as you may know, the labor market isn’t exactly great right now.</p>
<p>I tried applying for credit cards with low initial APR, but I was required to answer income questions that wouldn’t lead me anywhere. Are there any sort of programs that could at least temporarily alleviate my predicament? And just how severe are the consequences of declaring bankruptcy? Whatever is the solution, it would have to be one where I personally will be able to deal with everything, since my parent won’t be back here at least until the fall…</p>
<p>If you have any suggestions, please throw them in here. I will really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Just whose name is the card in? Whoever has the card should call the credit card company and try to get the finance charges suspended for 6 months until the parent can get back on their feet. Many times they will do that, I have seen that on Suze Orman or some TV feature. They would rather get some of the money rather than none of it or see it go into default, causing all kinds of problems. With a 0% interest rate for 6 months, that would help.</p>
<p>This is a problem that your parent is going to have to address. Your problem is how you are going to pay for your expenses and continue with college so that you can increase your chances of getting a job and your options, in general.</p>
<p>Getting more credit cards will probably only make your situation worse. Your parent needs to take care of their own CC and you shouldn’t worry about that. </p>
<p>Regarding a job, have you tried to get a campus job? Sometimes they pay better than a typical beginning job and they’re usually flexible on hours. You might need another job in addition - something where you might get a lot of hours on the weekend (usually retail). You should also look at how you can lower your living expenses - perhaps by sharing a space with a larger number of people. Cut out all restaurants. Cut out any other non-essentials. Even then it sounds as if you’ll have difficulty. You caould also talk to the financial aid office of the college and see what suggestions they have.</p>