More than a year ago I was working five days one week, six days the other week, twelve hour shifts, and making around a thousand dollars each week. It was specifically because of this rigorous work schedule that I was able to get a car loan. If I had been working regular hours, I would not have qualified for it. At the time I was also collecting disability for schizophrenia as well, doing a nine month program where this was allowed. At the end of nine months, they would evaluate my case and determine if I could work and needed the disability. Well, long story short, I lost my job and the car (it was repoed), before the nine month program was up. And I now continue to collect disability. Which is around $980 a month.

The car was sold and a remaining balance of $6000 as debt remains. And it’s accruing nearly fifty dollars of interest every month. They recently filed a lawsuit and we are in the pre-trial phase still, determining what to do. At first I offered to pay a hundred dollars a month, because I was living with my mother at the time and felt I could afford it, and I wasn’t paying a set rent. But now I’m in supportive living and paying a set rent, and I feel like a hundred dollars a month is a little steep, and just asked the law firm to ask the car loan company if they would agree to lower it to $50 a month. Which would mean I’m mostly paying interest and a tiny bit towards the loan each month. But I can’t really pay much more without affecting my quality of life. Money is pretty precious to me at the moment.

What should I do? What is debt consolidation? What is bankruptcy? Would it affect my disability? Can they garnish my disability?