Hi, granted i emmigrated last year. I had three loans in Ireland, each being paid off and meeting monthly payments. I'm 40+ and had never missed a payment. When the situation with the banks came in, I reviewed what I was doing. I decided that the panic with paying back loans on time is simply psychological. With the current situtation, you don't benefit at all with paying back your loans on time. In fact, you may benefit if you pay them back at all. If you're worried about being black listed, most people in the country are black listed at this stage. In fact, it would be very difficult not to be black listed. I decided not to worry so much. When I wrote to AIB to tell them I couldn't pay back my credit card and asked them to freeze the interest, they wrote back to me and told me that if I paid euro 10 per month, that would be fine. However, given that this left my balance as was, still accruing the usual horrendous interest and allowed them to make even more profit, I decided not to worry. I wrote to them, told that that I would attempt to pay back an amount which was 800 euro less then the balance owing, and anything that accrued in interest from that, they could write off. Naturally, they didn't write back. The problem with financials for people in your situation is that you feel that you have no control. You have control. The only real issue is the roof over your head, heat and food for your family. Everything else can be paid off or held until you have a way of managing the debt. Write to the financial institutions telling them that you are not in a position to repay at the same level and offer what you can. Then find a book called "The Richest Man in Babylon", sit down, read it and do exactly what it says. Because it really works. Creditors don't get upset. They just pretend to. They have to give people a hard time, because if they didn't, everyone would default. Really, is being black listed such a bad thing? Take control of your situation and read that book.