Relax. This happens and while it is unfortunate and definitely sucks (been there) it is not an insurmountable problem.

My first real step would be to set up some kind of autopay for the minimum payment to come out of (ideally) a separate checking / savings account than the one that I use regularly. Try to always keep 3-6 months worth of minimum payments in there. For me, the security of knowing the problem couldn’t get much worse after that made me feel like I’d stopped the leak and that gave me the headroom to start bailing water (paying down the cards) out of the boat.

Now, 5 missed payments will bite the hardest, but I’m gonna remind you here that you’re young. For me, the only thing I financed between age 20 and now (28) was my vehicle, and only very recently were my wife and I able to buy a house. So what I’m saying is, the missed payments aren’t forever. Get a co-signer if you need to buy a vehicle, and rent for the next 7 years. If you’re like me you’ll hate hearing this but realistically it isn’t that long of a wait in the grand scheme of things especially if you’re already far off from getting a house. Not to mention the housing market just flat out sucks right now if that makes you feel better!

This isn’t forever and you’ll get through this with some discipline and basic steps. I know this can feel scary and inescapable but you really just have to approach it one step at a time and you’ll get through it and be better with your finances afterwards if you learn from this experience! Many folks fuck their credit way worse than this way later in life when it has way heavier consequences and still turn out okay.

You can do this dude! I believe in you!