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Credit counseling - When you need help
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When you are deep down and under debt, you need to get some professional debt advise. This is where credit counseling comes in the picture. A credit counseling agency will help eliminate your debt by discussion debt interest reduction with your creditors and teach you some budgeting to get you out of tricky debt situations. Repayment plans and debt worksheets are offered by credit counseling agencies to individuals and businesses who are in dire need of debt help. However, adopt caution while selecting a credit counselor. Verify the company with your local BBB to make sure they have no or very few complaints listed in their record at the BBB office. This will help you keep the mischief makers at bay and help you deal with the right credit counseling firms.
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Credit counseling - When you need help
Credit counseling is a viable option for those who are feeling the stress of being overwhelmed by debt. Credit counseling primarily offers assistance with working out a credit and debt repayment plan for an individual to gain control of their finances by creating a structured budget for an individual to follow. Credit counseling offers an individual the option to repay their debts, if needed, through a credit counseling debt repayment program. This is where the credit counseling organization becomes in contact with an individuals creditor to ask for lowered interest rates and for the credit provider to stop any late and over the limit fees that may be attached to a particular credit card. Credit counseling organizations that provide a no charge credit and money management education program for an individual typically have the individual consumer's best interest on their mind.
Credit counseling may be needed if the following signs are present:
1. Are you using more and more of your income to pay your debts?
This becomes a problem if you are at the point where the money going out is less than or nearly less than the money coming in. Credit counseling would be a wise choice. Speaking to a credit counseling organization at this point can help because in a counseling session you may find that by sticking to a sound budget you may be able to avoid additional help. The best part is the counseling sessions should be at no charge, make sure of that before speaking to an agency.
2. Do you make only the minimum payments due on your loans and credit cards each month?
Look at your budget, that is review what dollars are coming in and how those dollars are going out. You may find that by tweaking your budget you may be able to avoid credit counseling by implementing a plan of savings through following your own plan. This should allow you to free up more money to be more aggressive in repaying your debt. Credit counseling may be needed if you have reviewed your budget and can't find additional funds to pay more than the minimum amounts to your credit cards. Paying only the minimum to your credit cards will only prolong the length of time needed to repay your debt. Some credit cards may charge such a high interest rate that it could take years upon years to pay off with minimum payments.
3. Are you near, at, or over the credit limit on your credit cards?
Once a credit card is nearing it's available balance or even worse if the credit card is over it's credit limit it is time to take aggressive action to pay down the balance. If this is a situation you are finding yourself in try finding additional dollars to bring your balances down. It is recommended that when doping this you do not open another credit account or take a consolidation loan to repay these accounts as more often than not taking a loan to pay a loan will result in more debt being owed. If you can't find the dollars to apply towards the credit cards try speaking to a credit counseling organization. They may be able to lay out a plan for you to repay the debt on your own, or through their own credit counseling services.
4. Are you paying your bills with money intended for other things?
If you find yourself "robbing Peter to pay Paul" with your credit cards it may be acceptable if you are replacing the dollars that are going to unnecessary items such as cable TV., cell phone payments etc. Just as long as those accounts have been paid and you are not accruing any more fees from them. However if you find yourself using dollars that are intended for necessary items such as a car payment, a house loan, food, etc. then you are most likely in a situation where credit counseling is an option you may need to look into. Look at speaking to a certified credit counselor that will offer a solution to your financial needs. Getting out of the red is very important, the sooner you take action the better.
5. Are you borrowing money or using credit cards to pay for things you used to buy with cash?
This can be very problematic when you are utilizing your credit to purchase things like groceries, fuel or other disposable goods. If you are currently in the act of doing this review your finances to determine if you can avoid making these purchases with your credit. If this can't be avoided try speaking to a credit counseling organization. They should be able to give you the tools needed to avoid this costly practice.
6. Do you often pay your bills late?
There are a few reasons on why an individual may frequently pay their bills after the due date. One of the main reasons is that there isn't a budget in place to follow, therefore rendering the payments of the debt to the instance of when a person gets paid. If a payment is due on the 25th and a individual is paid on the 30th this typically develops into a past due payment. This is due to the fact that the majority of people live from one paycheck to the next. Creating a savings account and a budget plan will resolve this issue for the most part. Paying bills late on a regular basis may also be attributed to an individual being upside down with their debts, meaning that there is more money going out regularly than coming in. Once this point is reached it may be time to speak to a credit counseling organization. It is urgent to seek help at this point in order to order to avoid long lasting damage to your credit.
Regardless of your situation it is important to seek help when feeling the pinch of being upside down or behind with your finances. Taking measures early will result in less dollars that go out in the long run. Taking action early will also result in a lesser need of bankruptcy which has long lasting negative impact on your credit worthiness.
Rick Munster lives in Boise, ID where he works as the Media Planner for Debt Reduction Services, http://www.debtreductionservices.com. When he's not busy working with the media he enjoys writing, or getting away to do a little fishing.
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Consumer credit counseling - Keep debt under check
Before Jim left for a study-abroad program in Australia last spring, he signed up for another credit card. One more wouldn't hurt, thought Jim, then a sophomore at Iowa State University. "I didn't plan on using the card," says Jim. "But Australia was a blast." The price tag? Over $10,000.
Luckily for Jim and others in his predicament--the average college student carries $2,400 in credit card debt some schools are providing credit counseling to their students. Montana State University in Bozeman, for example, operates Student Advocates for Financial Education. During a typical session at the busy office, counselors help students map out a budget, track expenditures, and find ways to cut back on expenses. "Tuition has gone up, the cost of living has gone up, and student wages have not kept pace," says Deborah Haynes, an associate professor at the school who oversees the program.
Payback. Students up to their ears in debt can also turn to nonprofit consumer credit counseling firms. These organizations can work out repayment plans directly with creditors or consolidate bills into one monthly statement, something on-campus centers may not be able to do. But be wary of scams. Credit Counseling should be free or nearly so, and credit card debt management plans shouldn't cost more than $50 to set up and $35 in monthly charges, says Travis Plunkett, legislative director with the Consumer Federation of America.
Back at Iowa State, Jim struggled to make ends meet, barely affording the monthly minimum charge on four credit cards and a line of credit. He went to the Financial Counseling Clinic at Iowa State, which offers to work with creditors to lower interest rates, but quickly realized he needed a more disciplined approach. He left school to move in with his parents in Minnesota and is now taking classes at a local community college. And he signed up with Lutheran Social Services, a nonprofit group in Duluth, Minn., that offers consumer credit counseling and credit card debt management.
Hill is now on a tight budget. Two thirds of what he earns each month working at a bank goes toward his credit card debt : He pays $65 to Lutheran Social Services each month--the organization keeps $5 and disperses the rest to two credit card companies--and coughs up an additional $420 to pay off his other cards and the line of credit. "It's a big burden," he says. "But it's going to be solved."
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