Posted on May 27, 2009 at 2:22 pm I have some credit cards that have relatively high balances on them and what to know what debt consolidation option works best for this type of a situation. If anyone knows please let me know!

Posted on May 27, 2009 at 2:27 pm It depends on many factors. For example, how much debt you owe, how many credit cards you have, if you are current or behind, and even what state you live in. Generally speaking "debt consolidation" used casually can refer to a consolidation loan, credit counseling or debt settlement. I am familiar with each of these options so if you let me know a little bit more in terms of what is going on I could try and provide some additional insight.

Posted on May 27, 2009 at 3:34 pm I live in Vermont (see the name silly ;)), I have 6 different credit cards and I owe approximately $12 thousand dollars right now. I am not behind, and my interest rates really aren't too bad ya know? I'm just getting impatient and want this to be behind me :)

Posted on May 27, 2009 at 4:41 pm I see, touche ;) Glad to see you still have your sense of humor. A friendly reminder that owing money isn't the worst thing in the world. But to address your situation: You don't owe that much, and are current on your payments so debt settlement really doesn't make too much sense. Your interest rates aren't too bad so credit counseling may not do you any good. I always encourage people to shy away from consolidation loans for many different reasons. Do you know how much you are paying off each month? I honestly think that patience may be your solution here! I know that isn't what you want to hear but with your circumstances seeking professional assistance for a fee may not be worth it. Does anyone else have any opinions?

Posted on June 1, 2009 at 2:56 am I say go for credit counseling. I've been thru the process myself and it really worked for me. When i went thru a credit counseling agency, i first spoke with a counselor who helped me assess my situation and created a specific budgeting plan four my household. After a few sessions i was told that i needed to go through a debt management plan. What they did was consolidate all my bills together and reduce the interest rate for each loan to 15%. i made payments to the company and they paid my creditors a little each month. after five years everything was paid off.

Posted on June 1, 2009 at 7:20 am I am not so sure about this caffeinatrix. She said that her interest rates aren't that bad. The point of enrolling into a debt management program is to try and lower high interest rates in order to pay off the debt faster. If her interest rates are already down between 12-18% that may not do too much good. Not to mention the fact that her creditors may not even agree to lower the interest rates. So the question remains, what exactly are your interest rates vermontgal, and how much at this time are you paying the debt down by? I think I agree with van easy on this one- patience may be the solution.

Posted on June 15, 2009 at 2:58 pm My interest rates are right around 15%- again not too bad (right?!)- and I pay roughly $400-$500 per month total towards the 6 different cards. Any ideas here?

Posted on June 17, 2009 at 12:06 pm Sorry for the delay- after seeing what your situation is, I truly believe patience may be the best thing here, as long as you are confident you can keep up the payments at $400-$500 per month. I used a debt calculator to determine how long it would take to pay off $12 K at 15% interest in monthly installments of $400 and it is roughly 38 months. All things considered that is not too bad. Credit counseling wouldn't do you much good seeing that your interest rates are already very low, and also these programs usually last 4-5 years so that would be even longer until you are debt free! Debt settlement would only make sense for you at this point if you started to fall behind on your payments. My suggestion is to keep making payments of $400 at the minimum, and if you can pay more each month that is great as you will reduce the amount of time it takes you to become debt free.

Posted on August 7, 2009 at 4:41 am The best debt consolidation option for debts that are below $10,000 but have high interest rates is credit counseling. If the debt amounts to more than $10,000 and the consumer is about to default or has already defaulted on his/her payment, debt settlement is the best debt consolidation option.

Posted on August 7, 2009 at 4:46 am To answer the question what is the best debt consolidation option? Perhaps the consumer has to first have his/her financial situation assessed. There are several factors in determining the right or even the best debt consolidation option for the consumer. One of them is familiarity with the creditors which the negotiators in a debt settlement company have.