Debt Counseling?

There are a ton of debt agencies out there. Unfortunately a lot of them charge high fees, don't do as promised or don't pay the money to your debt. You have to really research this. There was one that was recommended by the BBB but it was a while ago. It might have been Consumer Credit Counseling but not sure. One thing you might try to do yourself is call the creditors and tell them you would like a lower rate. Sometimes consumers can be successful working with the creditors without paying a ton of money to someone else. With the economy as it is, some creditors are starting to be more willing to work things out by doing smaller payments for a few months. BThere aer good counselors out there if yu do go this route but you have to be very careful. Bankrate.com is a great resource for all financial issues. You might try it and go tothe debt tab. They have tons of reference info and columns talking about all kinds of things. good luck

B., We tried doing that. My husband did a bunch of research. He thought that Debt Shield was a good one to go thru. IT WAS NOT. We paid in more than $3000 and they paid nothing off of the bills. They make you set up a payment plan and then don't pay anything towards what you owe until you have paid their fee first. then each month of the $150 payment we made they got something like $70 as a fee. It was a huge ripoff. They take your total amount owed and then you pay them a fee of 30% of that. the key is they tell you they can get the creditors to settle for x amount. sometimes the creditors don't settle for the lesser amount. and biggie here they are not required to stop harrasing you just becuase you are going thru a credit counciling place. we ended up doing a bankruptcy to get rid of ours. most of it was medical stuff but there were credit cards also. pretty stressful time we are having right now in the economy.

I have used Lighthouse Credit Foundation at 877-342-0000. The people there are very nice, never made me feel uncomfotable about my situation. Were always happy to help and just listen. It was the best thing my husband and I ever did! Good luck!

Hi B.,
We are going through debt management now. So, one whole month in, it is going well. They took the payment and the payments were given to the right people. We have the peace of mind. They make you come to the right decision of what to give up and I trust them. In four years, we will be largely debt free. That assumes that we don't have to pay something out of the blue. We have a credit card that is safe, usable and low interest for emergencies. While we are giving up cable, one health club and some much smaller things(magazines, books to purchase..), it is still okay. All that for $32 a month on top of our payment. You can back out once you need or want to as well.
We went through CCCS, a suggested resource from my husband's company. CCCS is the retention department of some of the major companies that happily raise your interest rate and the minimum. You just have to get your creditors to alter their date due to accommodate the timing of the payment every month.
I now appreciate a great garage sale and sleep better at night knowing that we won't lose our house. Tap your mom networks, freepeat.com(.org?)and freecycle.com for stuff that you need.

Good luck making the hard decisions!

L. L.

We also used Dave Ramsey and it has been a real change for us. He focuses on a change in spending and behavior, so there is little chance that you will end up in the same boat 5 years from now. I won't lie, it is sacrifce, but it is WELL worth it. Dave Ramsey tells people to NEVER use credit management companies. The reason being that A) there is no change in behavior, and B) they ruin your credit score to settle you debts. He is very faith based, which I love. It really helps you see the meaninglessness of stuff. Opens your eyes to what is really needed instead of just wanted. It also helps teach your children the right way to handle money, and believe me I do not want my son or daughter to EVER get messed up with debt. We started just this past January with his program and have paid off over $2000 in debt. We are on our last 2 debts and are so excited to hopefully have it all paid off by December. Total life changing experience. If you get WKRS 1220 AM on your radio, his talk show is on there from 1-4pm daily. And the stories keep you inspired to pay off debt the right way and keep it off. People making less than my husband and I do, and having much more debt, getting it all gone in less than 2 years. Great stories like that. Check it out and good luck!!!!!

Do not use a credit counselor. I tried it a few years back and it was a total rip. They didn't start paying on anything until they got (I figured over 11,0000) and I would have had to have done all this mailing out to my Credit Card companies telling them what I was doing so they wouldn't harras me. My debt if I had called would have been wipped clean for a lot under 11,000. So each year with my income tax return I have paid off the big ones one by one and the small ones during the year. May take sometime now but at least it is getting done. That is my advice.

Call your credit card company right away and ask for a supervisor. Tell them your situation and see if they will lower your interest rate and give you a set amount to pay every month and be okay with them closing your account so they can accomplish this. Then commit to paying off this debt. If you are a stay at home Mom then start doing daycare for others to earn extra cash or work on the days or times your husband has off, only use this money to pay off the debt. I understand you are pregnant, but the sooner you get this debt paid off the easier your life/marriage/relationship with your children will be.
Save where you can, create a strict budget. If you or your husband eat out/drink coffee out/spend any extra cash stop, now. If you are absolutely unable to work outside the house. Do what you can to save within...and possible hubby can either pick up extra hours or get a part time job to get you out the hole. Also do not default on mortgage and don't roll it into your mortgage as if you need to declare bankruptcy later you can still save your home if you are not behind in the mortgage. I don't suggest any of the refinancing/debt consolidation deals or opening a new credit card as that just gives you more credit to play with. If you are at a point where you can't afford to live where you are living...time to bite the bullet and downsize. If you owe on cars, figure out if you need the vehicles you own or if you could give up one or both that you owe on and get cheaper ones that you can afford that will get you from point A to B. I know it's hard to reign it all in, but it'll feel so good after it is done and you don't live on anything you haven't yet earned.

We used the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover book. You can get the workbook for it instead and I think it does about the same thing as far as providing you info. A friend had told me about it for years and I never really paid attention. Then we really needed to get our credit card debt paid off to stop living paycheck to paycheck. You can get the books from the library for free or buy them online. They aren't that expensive. The concepts are basic, and he's a funny and interesting writer. It's just basically about making sure you list EVERYTHING and be honest with each other about what you guys charge or buy. Then he gives you specific strategies like snowballing your debt. We used it, and have gotten much of our debt paid off in about a year and a half.

It's gives you a sense of control and accomplishment when you take responsibility and can get things paid off yourself. I highly recommend his book.