Posted on June 23, 2009 at 10:52 pm i want to know my options regarding debt management. i am a housewife with 3 children and my husband and i currently have $45,000 in debt. he temporarily stopped working due to an on-the-job accident and he was not paid for the time that he was not working. i've done a bit of research and decided that we can give credit counseling a shot. but do you think it really is the best option for us?

Posted on June 24, 2009 at 2:17 am well if you think that paying to get your credit fixed is worth it then by all means go ahead. im not sure but when you go counseling you will be taut budgeting tips i think

Posted on June 24, 2009 at 2:57 am Actually credit counseling agencies do not fix credit. What they do is offer advice on money and debt managment, help their clients in creating and developing a budget, and provide you with free instructional material and workshops on these things. I would say that if you are seeking these things, particularly in the budgeting help, then credit counseling may be worth your while.

Posted on June 24, 2009 at 6:08 am Well, right, credit counselors do offer budget advice, but you can get the same information from books and on the Internet anyway--and for free, even,, so I guess it's not all that it's cracked up to be

Posted on June 24, 2009 at 6:55 am I dunno, Mr. or Ms FYI, I mean the fact that Credit Counselors offer personalized debt advice is something that appeals to me. The Internet can only offer so much, really. What credit counselors do is create a fine-tuned, specifically made debt management system and budgeting program.Besides they do not charge a lot the first time. And if you get connected to a non-profit agency they may not even charge you at all, since what they do is considered a public service.

Posted on June 24, 2009 at 7:56 am Debt counseling isn't really the best bet for you if you already are too far in debt. For one, certain creditors have a certain limit towards how little the repayment amounts would be. The CCCS may not be able to "cut your payments enough," as Liz Pulliam Weston put it, into payments that you can afford. It may prove to be more of a bane than a blessing to you.

Posted on June 24, 2009 at 8:17 am Well yeah i think i already AM too far in debt.... $45000 is not a very pretty number, and saddly it still keeps on rising.....  What do you think should i do then? Is bankrupcty the next best thing for me now?

Posted on June 24, 2009 at 8:24 am I would say that filing bankruptcy should be used as a last resort. Are you current on your payments right now? Do you anticipate falling behind in the near future? If you are confident that staying current on your monthly payments is not realistic moving into the future, I would consider settlement first before thinking about bankruptcy.

Posted on June 24, 2009 at 8:52 am Right, 'cauze bankruptcy has really bad effects on your credit report in the long run. A Chapter 7 bankruptcy will remain on your credit report for ten years, and 20 on your public records. In case that you apply for credit in the future, you may also be charged with higher interest rates by lenders who normally would not do such on customers with average credit

Posted on June 24, 2009 at 2:08 pm If you are current on your payments right now I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss credit counseling as a bankruptcy alternative. Of course, if your interest rates aren't too bad it won't do you much good. In a credit counseling program, you make one monthly payment to the agency who disperses funds to all of your creditors. As a result you remain current and this is good for your payment history. But, since you must remain current, it is unlikely that you will find any monthly relief (in terms of payment amount). In the meantime, the agency is working with the creditors in an attempt to get your interes rates lowered, so you can pay the full debt amount off faster. Typically, these programs last 4-5 years and they can be successful for some. However, you should know that people with your debt amount are not prime candidates for that solution. I just don't think you should dismiss something so quickly without realizing how it works. Nobody on this thread really gave you a basic explanation, just a bunch of generalizations.