Have U Ever tried debt consolidation or debt reduction? Do U know the difference

I had an appointment with consumer credit counseling one time. It is a not for profit organization that helps you negotiate with your creditors. At that time we did not even make enough money for them to help us. We were told that we would have to at least one of us get a second job. We are going the really hard way, but are getting some of the things paid off. We took some extreme measures for awhile and we will never own credit cards again. We have made enough progress that we are receiving all the offers in the mail again. Not going there, though.

We are taking care of our previous credit card problem with Consumer Credit Counseling Service. They are a non-profit that will help individuals to get rid of their credit card debt in a period of 3-5 years by negotiating lower rates with your creditors and then you pay them monthly, they disperse the payment among the different creditors. Our current plan is going to take a total of 42 months from the first month that we started to pay off and our monthly payment is less than our old credit card payments used to be. I would recommend this particular route for anyone that is struggling with credit card debt.

some shortcuts turn out to be worse than taking the long road! Self control and honoring one's word (paying your debts) are never bad in the long run!

went to A PLACE A FEW YEARS AGO TO CONSOLODATE AND THEY WANTED TO MUCH TO DO IT i FELT LIKE IT WAS A SCAM i CALLED THEM LATER AND CANCCELLED THEM. i HAVE ONE CREDIT CARD FROZE AND WILL BE PAID OFF NEXT YEAR THE OTHER ONE i KEEP OPEN AND PAY A LITTLE MORE THAN THE PAYMENT EACH TIME oops sorry about caps but not going back to rewrite lololol

Thank heavens, i have never had to use any of these services. There have been some hard times for me but my bills were always paid right at front . I also always had to watch wwhat i spent & wouldn't buy things i did not have to buy. I don't use credit cars & have always paid as i go along or make payments like on my house, car etc. People allow themselves to get way in over their head.

I honestly need to go through debt consolidation, however, I don't know what company to try. There are so many out there that it is quite overwhelming and I feel I need help. I am thinking of seeing what "Consumer Reports" has to say and see what recommendations they have. It is so hard. We owned a business and ended up with a ton of debt, then one bad thing after another has happened. It has been horrible. Right now, I am trying everything I can think of to keep us floating and with a roof over our heads.

Over the last year I've been paying down all my debt and now I've cleared off all my credit cards and loans. The cards have been cancelled, so I'm now running a nice tight debt free life. That is debt reduction Of course debt consolodation will affect your credit rating, it involves taking out another loan to repay your existing debts. The lower monthly repayments are achieved by extending the repayment period over a longer period of time so that it appears that you are saving money. But the reality of it is that because you are making payments over a longer period of time, the total amount to be repaid (the actual cost of the debt) is higher than if you had stayed with the origional shorter term loans. This is attractive to people who are struggling to make repayments at the present and, only looking at the lower monthly repayment figure that they are offered, get sucked into this trap. Only realising to late that (if they ever do) that the full amount that they are paying over the term of the consolodation loan is much higher than what they would have paid otherwise. Debt consolodation loans do not reduce what you owe, they actually increase it. If the consolodation loan was used to pay off maxed out credit cards, then they'll probably then also continue to use them and end up building up even more debt. This is the way to bankrupt yourself.

I have heard of those things but thank God I have not had to investigate them. When I was married we were deeply in debt but all that was paid off by court order when the divorce happened. I have 3 credit cards but pay them off each month. I really only use one, and only because it gives me cash back that goes into my savings account. I pay off the balance every month. I enter my purchases into my check book just as I would debits so that I don't overspend then I add those back in when the bill comes and write a check to pay it. I think that once a person gets out of debt "want management" is more important than cutting up the cards.

I remember prior to buying my house almost two years ago that I had some old debts to take care of. I had credit card debt (because of school and putting most of my tuition on the card). I had paid most of it down on my own then I had written letters to the company and asked them to settle for a certain amount. I always paid by money orders that way the credit card companies could not get my checking account number. When writing to the company be sure to send it registered mail and have them sign it. Get everything in writing before paying it off and ask the company to list it on your credit report as paid in full. I had looked into a debt consolidation programs, but they can be tricky some of them end up costing you more money. They ask you for so much money up front then they negotiate with your creditors to lower your payments, but what the companies do not tell you is that the credit card companies have the right to say no and make you pay the whole thing off.

In the long run, it is definately not worth to damage your credit because you may meet huge obstacles when buying real estates, cars or some thins depending on your credit record. It is not sensible. But if some one do not belive it, maybe he can try to do it=)