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Trying to find out which is better, going to a consolidator to take control of my outrageous debt... or not pay some debts each month to slowly pay off others. I have 7 cc's right now and if I pay 2 of them in the next two months and not pay 5 of them in those two months, I can pay off both balances. Then after that, I can concentrate on paying down each card one at a time... Would this make more sense instead of a debt consolidation?

Looking for some people who've experienced both... help.

2007-07-08 14:53:29 · 11 answers · asked by Cath22 1 in Business & Finance Personal Finance

11 answers

If a person has accumulated a large amount of credit card debt due to multiple credit cards, the need for a proper counseling for credit card debt consolidation can't be understated. Credit card debt consolidation counseling helps a person get vital insights into the facts that can help him get control over the credit card debt.

Credit card debt consolidation counselors are experts with a good knowledge of debt management, budgeting and behavioral patterns of credit card holders. These services are vital for those struggling to manage their credit card debts. Also called credit counseling or debt counseling the credit card debt consolidation counseling brings immediate relief to a credit card holder.

A person seeking credit counseling can get it from two types of organizations. The professional or commercial organizations, and the non-profit organizations. As depicted by its name or categorization, the commercial organizations charge money for their credit counseling sessions and consolidation help on the other hand the non-profit organizations offer free of charge services. Just because the non-profit organizations are free, it doesn't undermine their quality of service. The persons associated with such organizations are thorough experts and have lived the trauma of being under credit card debt themselves and hence bring their vital experience to the credit card holder.

When a person approaches a credit counseling agency, the first thing it will do is to take stock of the situation and get various facts about the credit card debt. The credit counseling agency collects data about the income, expenditure and spending habits. It will guide the credit card holder about budgeting benefits and try to inculcate good financial habits. Read more from: http://www.credit-card-gallery.com/article/353,Credit_card_debt_consolidation_and_credit_counseling_great_tools_to_get_rid_of_credit_card_debt

2007-07-09 00:21:32 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0 1

Debt consolidation will not help you. You need to spend less than you make. I was in a similar situation. If you want to get out of debt and learn how to control your spending and get your finances in control get the book Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

Use the snowball effect that is discussed in the book. List your debt from smallest to largest, forget about the interest rate. Pay the minimum on all except the smallest debt. Any extra money you can send to the this card you send (a budget is a great idea, once you create one you will realize that you are spending too much on certain things) and even get a part time job to pay the debt off. Once this is paid off you move to the next one and everything you were sending to Card #1 you now send it to to Card #2 along with the minimum payment, hence the snowball effect. You do this every time you pay off a card and you will see your debt disappear.

I am currently in this process in becoming debt free and I can tell you first hand this works. I also found a job that pays more and working part time and I sold many things so I could send payments to the cards. I contribute my change towards money to Dave Ramsey and his books. The most important things that helped me were the budget, the envelopes, and the snowball effect on paying credit cards.

Best of luck to you.

2007-07-08 15:28:01 · answer #2 · answered by nomed13 2 · 2 0

Do not, I repeat, do NOT do a debt CONsolidation. It doesn't get you out of debt, it just keeps you in debt longer. There is a plan that works. I know because I followed it and we got out from under in 17 months. I had two car payments, a ton of credit card debt, and other miscellaneous debts as well.

Go to your public library and borrow (so you don't have to spend any more money) Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. It is not gimicky but very motivational. Also, go to his website to find out when and where you can listen to his radio show. If it doesn't air in your area, you can listen to parts of it online for free. That's what we did. The stuff is plain common sense but it keeps you on target and he breaks the whole process down into baby steps. Please at least go to his website and read those....so you get a feel for this.

Please give it a try. You can do this WITHOUT a credit counselor, debt consolidator, bankruptcy, or more loans.

Go for it.....and good luck!

2007-07-08 15:06:14 · answer #3 · answered by moneywise 3 · 3 0

First, call them and get them to lower your interest rate. You can also try to make a lump sum payment (less than the balance) and see if they will accept that as full payment of the debt.

Don't go with a service. All they do is manage your money for a fee and negotiate with the creditors like I said above.

Instead, pay the minimum payment on all your bills. Take all your extra money and put it toward the smalles balance. As soon as that is paid off, take that extra money (plus what you were paying as the minimum and put that toward the next lowest balance, then when that is payed off, rollup...

DON'T go with your plan of concentrating on two and totally ignoring the others. They will rack up tons of penalties and interest and your credit score will be destroyed. Pay the minimums on all of them and concentrate all your effort on ONE each month until it is paid off.

Mathmatecally, you should go for the highest interest rate first, but emotionally, you will get much further by paying on the smaller debt first because you will actually see progress!!

This is Dave Ramsey's "debt snowball" and it works!!!

Of course, the key is to STOP RACKING UP DEBT. Reduce your expenses. Live on rice and beans. Get an extra job and pump every penny into reducing your debt.

Madpol is an idiot - don't go for bancrupcy.

Good Luck!

2007-07-08 15:38:15 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

The best credit counseling you can do is read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. This is the 5th post about Ramsey for you, there is a theme in the answers back to you.

If you need more hands on approach take his Financial Peace University (FPU) class. (Go to his website and click "find a class".)

His book and his class teaches you how to do a budget, how to start your baby emergency fund ($1000, so you don't use credit cards again), pay off your debts smallest to largest (garage sale, eBay, sell the car if you have to, etc), using a debt snowball and then saving for 3-6 months of expenses when your debt is gone.

Read his book. I have been where you are at and the first year we did his program we paid off over $15k in debt. Part of it was using bonuses properly the other part was using a budget and telling our money where to go.

You can do it, you just need guidance and Ramsey's book will give that to you.

2007-07-09 03:00:27 · answer #5 · answered by mldjay 5 · 1 0

You definitely need to pay on your own. No one is going to care about your money more than you.

Don't skip payments on your credit cards. You might get universal default placed on all your accounts, even the ones that are current. That's where the credit card companies will jack your interest rate to the highest rate possible. Your minimum payment will skyrocket. I've blogged on that subject if you want to read about it. It's on the link below.

Basically you will want to pay the minimum on each card except the one with the highest rate. There you will pay the minimum plus whatever you can afford. Stick to amount you decide and pay it each month until that card is paid off. Once that's paid off then you can work on the next highest one using the same strategy until you get every one of them paid off.

Hope this helps.

2007-07-08 16:36:35 · answer #6 · answered by fixingupcredit 2 · 0 0

It's better to skip them both and go to a bankruptcy lawyer. If you are in deep enough to ask that question, you need a clean start.

"Credit Counelors" are just soft sell collection agencies. They work for the creditors, not you. The average program takes 7 years and you end up paying thousands in additional interest. And that's only the ethical ones. There are agencies that will string you along forever. You keep paying, but you don't get anywhere in reducing your debt.

A consolidation loan can lower your payments, but you're going to end up paying a lot more over the life of the loan.

You're allowed 3 re-affirmations in a bankruptcy, so you could keep the car and two credit cards and pay down those balances.

2007-07-08 15:05:40 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0 3

Do it on your own, and make sure you read the Fair Credit Reporting Act to know your rights.

First, counselors and consolidators can get you into a bigger mess. You pay them, and they are supposed to pay your creditors, but they don't always pay on time.

2007-07-08 15:52:49 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1 0

Sometimes its better to work out your loans on your own but if you see no way out then I would suggest the credit counselor for advice. They may suggest ways you can do everything on your own or help you work things out with their help. It just depends on your situation and how far in debt you are.

2007-07-08 15:06:37 · answer #9 · answered by insane one 6 · 0 1

learn to pay on your own.... paying someone to do it usually don't work..... most of the debt management companies are scams... they take your money and pay little or nothing towards the debt.

so, the credit card thing don't work too well does it?

Not picking on you, I use to use them too... never again. I learned the hard way like most of us do.

2007-07-08 14:57:56 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2 1

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