I don’t know if debt relief would be good for my husband and I or not, we have never been late or missed a payment and we usually DO pay more that the minimum but we have over $20,000 on credit cards and I feel overwhelmed. I feel like we will never have this debt paid off. Also our cards are zero interest so I don’t know if we really have any options. We have really good credit so I would hate to do anything to screw that up. Any thoughts would help!
Has anyone tried debt consolidation or debt relief and how did it affect your credit?
6 Comments
I don’t know if debt relief would be good for my husband and I or not, we have never been late or missed a payment and we usually DO pay more that the minimum but we have over $20,000 on credit cards and I feel overwhelmed. I feel like we will never have this debt paid off. Also our cards are zero interest so I don’t know if we really have any options. We have really good credit so I would hate to do anything to screw that up. Any thoughts would help!
Tags: Debt Consolidation

6 responses so far ↓
1 Daria L
If you chose the right debt consolidation consulting company the results can be great I recommend:
2 kazacan44
We used debt consolidation on the advice of our banker. We had a savings certificate, by the way, and she advised us to NOT cash it in to pay bills, but to use it for collateral and get a consolidation loan. We did that. six months later, when we went for a mortgage the SAME BANK (wjhere we had been dealing 8 years!) WOULD NOT GIVE US A MORTGAGE BECAUSE WE HAD A DEBT CONSOLIDATION LOAN!!!
Apparenly debt consolidation loans are worse than missing a payment occasionally!! Yes, we changed banks. You would be better to follow Oprah’s debt diet plan. If you have zero interest cards, you must know something that no one else does - unless they are deferred plans like for furniture and not just consumer things!! But, hey! If this is true and you are not paying any interest, then a consolidation loan would be plain STUPID. Why would you want to pay interest? Pay the minimums on all, then add a second payment to one of them until the debt is paid, then keep on going. Good luck.
3 blue4vegas
We are working with Charles Phelan from Zip Debt. We chose to make settlements on our cards…most were for about 25- 40% of amount owed. It does hurt your credit but can really help you get out of debt and move on with life. I recommend his program to anyone.
4 sophieb
the purpose people go to places like Consumer Credit Counseling is to get the interest lopped off and for them to help you make payments (for which they charge a fee). Since you don’t have interest then they won’t accept you. I started that process once years ago and then realized that I could do exactly what they re doing but without paying them a fee, in fact I could pay myself the fee…haha
So go to the Dave Ramsey website (he’s a financial guru who has a radio show) locate him on the yahoo search engine. Basically he will say to stop digging a hole, get 2 and 3 jobs apiece, and eat beans and rice until you get those balances down. Figure out what you owe, your payments and how much you can pay month, figure in what extra things you will have to pay for, and be strict with yourself and don’t buy anything new. You can do it. In no time that balance will be down. Call into the Dave Ramsey show if you have any question. He’s superb at what he does.
5 Zac
if you have great credit and have not been late dont go through credit counseling. If you cant make the payments then I would recommend it.
6 farrell h
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: