Malayo pa, pero may plano na: how I started sorting out several debts

I had around ₱4 million in total debt and about ₱120,000 take-home pay. For almost two years, I kept paying minimum amounts and renewing loans. The balances were still there. For context, my debts included five credit cards with around ₱900,000 outstanding, a personal loan of about ₱390,000, a car loan, Home Credit Cash, SLoan, BillEase, and other balances. I was earning around ₱150,000 gross, but my take-home after tax and deductions was about ₱120,000. For almost two years, the setup was the same. Around ₱29,000 a month went to credit-card minimum amounts due. I would pay loans, renew some of them, and repeat. Most of my cards were close to maxed out, so it felt like my payments were going to interest while the balances barely moved. I finally listed every debt, including the interest and late-payment charges. Then I sorted them into three groups: • Loans where I was most worried about harassment involving my family or work. • Loans with daily penalties that could make the balance grow quickly. • Loans where I could ask for a payment arrangement or face only a one-time late charge. After that, I checked what was left from my income after the house payment, utilities, food, and car payment. That showed me what I could actually work with. My biggest item was EastWest: about ₱348,000 on a credit card and ₱378,000 on a personal loan. I contacted collections and applied for restructuring during the first week overdue. The process took around four to five weeks by phone and email. Before approval, I was paying about ₱13,000 minimum due on the credit card and ₱17,000 on the personal loan—₱30,000 combined. The approved arrangement brought the combined payment to ₱8,000 a month for the first two years, then ₱14,000 in years three and four. The other accounts did not follow the same pattern. • My Security Bank credit-card balance was around ₱215,000. I requested balance conversion, paid the required minimum, and received an 18-month arrangement at about ₱11,000 per month. That was higher than the old ₱6,000 minimum, but the balance was moving. • My UnionBank card had about ₱211,000 outstanding. After two to three weeks overdue, I received a Match Your Pay offer. I paid ₱54,000 and reported that the outstanding balance fell by ₱108,000, leaving around ₱103,000. • For a BPI card with roughly ₱78,000 outstanding, I did not receive an offer, so I continued with the minimum and planned to prioritize closing it. • For an RCBC card with roughly ₱69,000 outstanding, I first paid the minimum under an offer to waive penalty and interest. I later applied for a 12-month balance conversion at a little over ₱4,000 per month; that application was still ongoing when I posted. While those requests were moving, I kept Atome Cash, Atome Card, and Maya Credit current because I was concerned about collection behavior. I directed extra cash to GCash loans because of daily interest. I delayed some accounts with one-time fees, and I asked BillEase for a short payment move and Home Credit for a one-month payment holiday. I also had access to a ₱380,000 salary loan. That option is a big part of what I was able to do; another borrower may not have it. I used it across several overdue balances and commitments: the ₱54,000 UnionBank payment, Revi Credit, overdue SLoan and SPay balances, a BillEase promise-to-pay amount, the first Security Bank arrangement payment, family debt, delayed car payments, a ₱50,000 BPI payment, house repairs, and overdue house amortization. I would not say I was close to paying everything off. The EastWest arrangement would rise after two years. Security Bank required more than the old minimum. RCBC was still pending. Other loans remained. But I was in a better state. I had overcome some of my fear of the unknown because I finally knew my exact position and what was happening with each account. Malayo pa, but that was the progress I could honestly report. Where the story stood Several balances had been restructured, reduced, or brought current, but large debts and changing scheduled payments remained. The result depended materially on about ₱120,000 take-home pay and access to a ₱380,000 salary loan.