mortagesandforeclosures

by Frank Froggatt

Don't Go It Alone - Get the Help of a Credit Counselor

Credit card debt is the number one form of debt for Americans and continues to swell even more every year. As times get tougher and cash get short, more and more people are willing to use credit cards for things that they wouldn't normally use them for, like gas and groceries. If you do this you end up paying more for your essential items because of the interest, instead you should use your credit cards for emergency purposes only. Whenever we use a charge card, we intend to pay more than the minimum payment, but it is often difficult and the minimum payment is often what we make over a period of years. It is sad to say that when you use your credit card, one tank of gas or a trip to the grocery store for a simple weeks worth of food can literally take you many years to pay off.

A really good form of debt management is taking advantage of credit counseling. Credit counselors are normally certified debt management specialists which will have a huge amount of information regarding different debt management tactics. These include debt consolidation and debt reduction. This counselor will be able to look at your current state of affairs and be able to give you advice on which path you should take to secure your financial freedom in the future.

You need to gather up some basic information about your different credit card accounts before you go speak with a credit counselor. These items include the name of the creditor with their contact information, the current balance on your account, your minimum required payments and the interest rates. You need to do this for each and every account that you have. This is the basic information about your account and can help with the process of planning to get rid of that debt. For this article, we will cover the two main forms of credit counseling and the other ideas surrounding it. These include debt consolidation and debt negotiation.

The form of debt management that is known as debt consolidation, is a way of merging all of your debts into one monthly payment with the low interest rate through the acquiring of a loan that is used to pay off all of the other debt. This can often bring instant relief from harassing phone calls and letters and can lower your monthly payments and overall interest rates. These loans are available in secured and unsecured like other loans and this is decided by the level of borrowing power you have.

Debt negotiation is a form of debt management that allows you or a representative for you to contact your creditors and negotiate with them to lower your monthly payments, interest rates or come to a settlement agreement to pay off the loan or account balance at a lower amount. This can be intimidating for many debtors to do, but with the help of a credit counselor the process can be rewarding and successful.

Debt consolidation and debt elimination services are not the only things that credit counselors work at. They also help you to put together financial plans that will help you to eliminate your debt and help you to form a budget that you can stick to and live by. When considering the options of credit counseling know that they can help you find the best way out from under credit card debt and help you avoid getting into the same situation in the future. You might be in debt now, but it doesn't have to be as bad as you think it is. If you get the right credit counselor and service behind you, it can be a very supportive process that can be very effective in helping you.

Read about non profit credit consolidation

About the Author:

There is no need to be ashamed, you simply need to move forward and learn from past mistakes. If you would like to learn about the differences between debt consolidation and debt reduction then take a minute and visit http://www.mydebtconsolidationsite.us

Get all the information and photos:: http://mortgagewide.info/a-certified-credit-counselor-can-get-you-through-your-difficult-financial-spot/