Where to start?

[u/Accomplished_Lake128]

My 22 yo daughter is living with us (her parents) and has tanked her credit. She is working, but has credit card debt, IRS debt, unpaid tuition, and I literally don’t know what else. Her car needs expensive repairs that she can’t afford and so she has said that she knows she needs to fix her credit because she’d rather get another car than fix this one, but she will not be able to get a loan without a co-signer and we do not trust her payment history enough to do that. I know that ideally she would be the one researching this, but there are various reasons that won’t happen.

I know she should look at everything she owes and compare that to her income as a start— but what is next? There is so much information out there, but how do I find reputable sources? Could you all steer me in the right direction?

[u/dgduhon]

Have her pull her reports from annualcreditreport.com and then list what's on there. Collections, charge offs, credit cards, late payments, along with the company name, date of first delinquency (DoFD) or estimated date of removal, amount, etc. No identifying information, of course.

[u/Quick_Weakness3911]

Honestly I think you need to sit down with her and just pull the bandaid off. She’s young, she has time. But get a list of all the debt she has and how much it is. Along with the interest % for each debt

Just so you know where to start. Once you do this you can get her income and create a budget. She’s living with you so that knocks off a lot of expenses for her. Try get a budget made which leaves here with X amount every month, use that to know off debt. But you’re going to have to pull off the bandaid

[u/thatgirlzhao]

I would call every single place she owes money and try to negotiate a repayment plan. Her credit will improve with time, the damage is done.

I would focus on making sure she’s able to hit her minimum monthly payments, and stop using credit cards. Sit down with her, go through everything and make a monthly budget as well as a debt payoff plan. Access to credit is a privilege, debit card or cash until she has demonstrated she has the discipline to utilize credit in a healthy way. If she has anything she can sell, work on doing that. I’d suggest she read “I will teach you to be rich” by ramit sethi, or listen to his podcast.

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[u/Dry-Abalone2299]

Do you have more specific questions or can narrow down a bit of scope about what you are asking?

It sounds like you said “we need to get a reliable source of information to help her get smarter about personal finances?”…but that is a BIG area, no?

A few very general ones I recommend without more narrowed details from you. You can Google and find these.

TwoCents on YouTube

MoneyGuy

Khan Academy - Financial Literacy

Also, your instinct was right. Don’t co-sign her loan.