Comments on: Can You Refer Me To A Good Debt Consolidation Company?

By: Barbara P

Barbara P — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:12:55 +0000

Please do not consolidate. It is not free, they will lower your payments by increasing the length of time until you are debt free, and you will take a hit on your credit score. Or they negotiate your debt down after telling you not to pay for awhile adding another hit to your credit score. Student loans are the only debt that can garnish your wages for non payment without taking you to court first. Just list them out on a piece of paper or a spreadsheet and follow the plot. If you work the plot, the plot will work for you.
A. Have a garage sale and sell anything that you no longer need or want.
B.Get a temporary part time job, if you have one, get another.
Here is a plot that can help you. If you work the plot, the plot will work for you:
1. Make a budget. Make the budget a week before you get paid. A budget is not a punishment! It is a tool which will free you from ever having to worry about money again. Place everything in your budget. Especially those annual, biannual, or quarterly bills like car registration, insurance, etc. Give every dollar you are going to bring home the name of where it is going. Add an “emergency fund” category to your budget for 25 dollars and save up until you have 1000-1250 dollars. Your emergency fund will help keep you from getting into new debt because of an emergency. If you can, set up a direct transfer to a savings account for your emergency fund. That way it moves automatically and you don’t even have to worry about it. You must cut your spending and live on less than you make.
2.First get current on all of you debts and make no more late payments. Stop using your credit cards immediately. Do not take on any more debt. Credit cards are like quicksand only the death is much slower. Make a list of all of your debts in order of highest interest rate to lowest interest. Use cash only for your spending from now on.
3.Pay the minimum due on all of your debts and then place your extra money towards paying off the highest interest one first. After you get that one paid off, you place the money you were paying on debt #1 (the minimum payment and the extra payment) towards debt #2. That will pay debt #2 off quicker. When that is paid off, you place all three payments towards card #3 and that one will be paid off pretty quickly. As an example:
To start :
Debt #1 (highest interest): minimum payment+ extra payment
Debt #2 (middle interest): minimum payment
Debt #3(lowest interest): minimum payment
Debt #1: paid off
Debt #2: minimum payment from Debt #1+ Minimum payment from Debt #2 +extra payment
Debt #3: minimum payment
Debt #1: paid off
Debt #2: paid off
Debt #3:Minimum payment from card #1+ minimum payment from Debt #2+ minimum payment from Debt #3+ extra payment.
That way, you will get them all paid off, on time, and pay the least interest. It will also help towards rebuilding your credit since you will no longer have any late payments. This works no matter how many different debts you may have.
4. After you get all of your debts paid off, add to your emergency fund until you have 6-12 months of income saved up. Place that emergency fund money into a liquid money market fund or into a Bank of America no-risk CD so that if you need the money you can take it out without penalty.
5a. When you have your emergency fund in place, add a category for “fun” to your budget. Save for a holiday, a vacation, a huge screen, or dinners out, whatever goal you want. Remember to delight in your life.
5b. When you have your emergency fund in place, start saving for your retirement. Join the 401(k) plot at work and contribute the maximum. Your employer probably matches at least part of your contribution so why give up free money? Open a Roth IRA and contribute the maximum on a monthly basis. If you start saving for your retirement now, you will probably retire a millionaire.
5c. When you have your emergency fund in place, start saving for your next car. Only buy cars, or other things that depreciate, with cash. Save up for a nicer car. That way you get the interest instead of paying the interest.
You can do it and it isn’t as hard as you reckon. Just follow the plot.

By: Hector

Hector — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:10:51 +0000

Common situation you met like many other people,be patient,and check the resource here
http://www.DebtFreetips.info/debt-free.htm
i found useful.

By: Effy1120

Effy1120 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:17:15 +0000

I have listed a resource where you can find the best 3 rated services in this market, make sure you review and compare all of them before make any choice.

By: micki

micki — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:34:59 +0000

Hey! I went through a debt consolidation company called Stratton & Feinstein. They are a group of lawyers that make deals with your credit card companies and other debt to consolidate it to about 65 % of what you owe. The website is myuslaw.com .. I hope this helps! Excellent Luck!

By: MW

MW — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:18:47 +0000

Any lender can consolidate your debts, you do not need a “specialized” lender…most of them will in fact be scams.
But don’t fall for this unless you completely know what you are doing and know, for some reason, why you must do it…the majority of people who consolidate debts are usually taking unsecured debt and turning it into secured debt and that’s not so smart to do since the only thing that can happen to you if you default on an unsecured debt is a terrible credit rating for a few years until it falls off your report; but, if you default on a secured loan, they can take whatever it was that you used to secure that loan, and you still take the hit on your credit report.
Also, by rolling an ancient debt into a new one (depending on what that is and how it’s written – especially refinancing a mortgage or car note) you are lengthening the term of that original loan and compounding the interest too – paying waaaaay more for something than you need to.
You can usually just contact your creditors and work out a new payment plot that keeps you from all these negatives that come with consolidations. Or, if you’re able to simply get a new, unsecured loan from a reputable lender, you can pay off these debts personally with those funds rather than listing them for consolidation.

By: Jeff T

Jeff T — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:40:49 +0000

SO been there, done that–I had a lot of (a LOT of) debt and couldn’t figure out how I was supposed to pay a debt consolidation or debt settlement company on top of making payments to credit card companies. I found a company that allowed me to stop making payments immediately. I now work for them because they helped me and I can now help others–hardly anyone knows that there are laws in place that protect the consumer regarding credit card debt–email me for more info.

By: itsmyopi

itsmyopi — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:51:58 +0000

Finding a excellent debt consolidation company is like finding a shark that won’t bite you.
Here’s the fundamental problem with debt consolidation companies:
They don’t do anything that you can’t do yourself.
If you owe $20,000 to one or many credit card companies, when the debt consolidation company gets finished, you either A) owe $20,000 plus their fees, or B) have defaulted on some of the debts, trashed your credit, and now owe the IRS taxes on the debts that the credit card companies have written off.
If I have five cards, and the minimum on each of $300, what’s the use of a debt consolidation company that tells me I can make one low payment of $1,800 a month?
Here’s what I suggest: Go to each individual creditor yourself and try to negotiate a lower interest rate, and close the credit card accounts for any of the lenders that won’t work for you.

By: Capone

Capone — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:40:20 +0000

There is one called Consumer Credit Counseling Service that is sponsored by Goodwill. Here is the link I found or call the Goodwill Office in your area.