Posted on August 9, 2009 at 12:24 pm My mother passed away in April 2003 and 5 months later my husband passed. My means of dealing with this was retail therapy.  When I felt down and depressed, I would get the credit cards out and go shopping.  Only to find that was no comfort.  Now six years later, I'm between $13,000 - $15,000 in debt and living paycheck to paycheck. I have an appointment with Clear Point Financial Solutions this week.  Has anyone used them?  Another option I may have is to have my oldest son co-sign for a loan.  The bank would withdraw the amount needed from my pay check and deposit it into his account.  My problem is I don't know if I want him to know what I mess I got myself into.  He doesn't use credit cards and is very aware where all his money is spent. I want to retire in four years and want all of this debt gone.  Should I go ahead with debt management or talk to my son?  Please help!!      

Posted on August 10, 2009 at 3:40 am Hi, Dar, sorry to hear about your situation.Getting a loan to pay off other loans is essentially not a very good idea. It would entail having you to pay off another loan on top of the loans that you currently have. "Robbing Peter to pay Paul" does not really rectify the situation, and it may lead one to fall into further debt.It would be a good idea for you to consolidate your debt in order for you to be able to pay it off slowly but surely.

Posted on August 10, 2009 at 4:13 am Clearpoint has a very good rating with the BBB--an A+ even. In fact I think they're even collaborating on a specific project. Read more about it here.

Posted on August 10, 2009 at 11:38 am Dar - I am sorry to hear about your situation.  I am a single mom with a lot of debt myself.  I was stupid in some of my decisions recently, but have been working on them.  (Of note, I have a blog here if you are interested in reading). Here is my take on your situation.  I would keep the appointment with Clear Point Financial Solutions.  I would also discuss your situation with your son as being that he apparently has good debt management skills.  Hiding this from your family takes away the potential of emotional and moral support.  I would not consider the loan unless it is your last option.  Be sure to make that point clear to your son and family.  Likfe caffeinatrix noted, you are using one debt to pay off another.  

Posted on August 10, 2009 at 11:46 am Yes, if you take out a loan and your credit isn't very strong, you can rest assured that it will be extended at a high interest rate (assuming it is unsecured). As a result, over the repayment period of the loan, you may end up paying back a lot more than that $15 K you owe not. Of course, if your son has really good credit it is possible to get a good rate, but as rhitter94 mentioned, you are robbing Peter to pay Paul and not attacking the root of the problem. I wish you the best of luck, feel free to post additional questions if you need more insight into your situation.

Posted on August 17, 2009 at 8:39 am I have heard that one way to eliminate credit card debt is through credit counseling. Do you guys know who would be a good candidate for this approach? And how does it work? I hear all these t.v. commercials about it but they don't tell you much.

Posted on August 17, 2009 at 9:28 am Credit counseling is indeed one way people can try and get out of credit card debt faster. In simple terms, a client of one of these agency would make one monthly payment to them, and they in turn would disperse funds to each of the owed creditors. In the meantime, the agency tries to get the interest rates on each of the cards lowered. I would say a good candidate for credit counseling would be someone who doesn't owe too much ($1-$5 K) and has no problem making their monthly payments but is dealing with high interest rates. I bring up the point about making the monthly payment with no issues because if the client is ever late or misses even one payment, they can be removed from their debt management program. Considering the average program lasts 5 years that requires 100% confidence that papyments can be made over 60 months.