Has anyone been through this? I am afraid that we have gotten ourselves in a pickle and want to know if this is the way to go. I see no way out right now and any advice would help. Thanks so much.

We went through this when we were much younger and had become mired in credit debt. The minimum payments weren't even making a dent. They helped us negotiate a managable plan for us and a lower payoff balance than we ever could have ourselves.

Make sure that you find a service that does not charge YOU a fee.

Good luck!

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This space for rent

I never heard of a service that charges nothing. But we went through CCCS of Atlanta last year and our debt has gone down drastically (they keep a small percentage of the payment). It's a really nice thing to see. The funniest part is that the one thing I was most afraid of has turned out to be the absolute best part...no more new credit!
This is the first Christmas we ever had that we didn't have the Amex bill looming the following month. We found that most creditors approved the Debt Management Plan proposed to them. One wanted $5 more a month.
We were very worried about the effect it would have on our credit rating but we were in an accident last February (we were in the plan about 5 months) and our car was totalled. We went to Carmax and were approved immediately. The interest rate is less than desireable but still, we were approved!
I wish you luck with whatever you choose but I think it's the best thing we ever did!

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Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle

Are you still in good standing with your creditors?? I am only asking because last year DH and I were looking to get out of high apr's with creditors. We applied for, and were approved for, a credit card with only 8.9% SET interest with no APR for 2 years! We moved the high APR bills (like through American General - since they refused to lower our APR unless we decided to borrow more money through them) over to the low APR credit card. Immediately started saving money!! When you go from 2 bills at 18.9% APR and one at 22.8% APR down to all 3 at 8.9% set with no payments on balance transfers for 2 years, you start saving money quickly.

Granted, this will only work if your credit rating is good. We busted our tails to come back from bankruptcy. We filed in 1999 (we were young, stupid, and going through a really rough time when we filed), and just last year were at our 7 year discharge. We finally can get loans through our credit union.

Good luck! Juggling bills is tough, and I commend you for trying to get finances in order.

Credit counseling looks worse on a credit report than a bankruptcy does. If you are that far in over your head, you might want to consider filing BK.

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Mommy to Nicholas & Emma

We did credit counciling about 10 years ago. The people were always polite to us. They charged $2 a month per account per month. It took 5 years to pay off but it was worth it. In both cases, BR and credit counciling it takes about 7 years to clear from your credit history. You can not get new credit cards but you can get car, house and student loans while on it. Our credit rating is great now and went up after the 5 years.

We did the Credit Counseling about 15+ years ago, and it TRASHED our Credit. It seemed like it took forever to establish a "Good Credit Rating"! Good-luck!

This question of credit counseling has come up several times on my coupons. I did it but never had problems with credit rating after doing it. Several people say it messes up your credit. I just checked on line and in your credit rating it does not report if you were in credit counseling. In credit counseling you pay the credit cards etc off. Sometimes there is no interest but most of the time it is a lower interest rate. If you claim bankrucy, you do not pay back the credit cards etc. (correct me if I am wrong) Either way it takes 7 years to clear your credit history. After 5 years (when I had mine paid off) I started getting credit card and other loan inquires. Four years ago we refinance our mortage at 4.8% and 15 years. Then about 2 1/2 years ago we took a second on our house to fix some things in the house (also because the price of homes in our area went up alot) Again we had no problems. I would check into both a make a decision. I was always under the impression that bankrupcy was a last step and should only be done in extreme cases. Both my husband and I have high credit ratings.

Just looked it up again. Bankruptcy is on your credit report for 10 years.

BK stays on your credit for 7 years (10 in some states), however, you are able to obtain credit cards, a mortgage, car loans, etc. all at a decent interest rate appox. a year after your discharge. I am a bankruptcy paralegal and see so many people that think credit counseling/debt consolidation is the way to go, but they still end up in over their heads and they are paying for years and years. If you are adament about paying the debt back and not discharging it in a BK, you can file a Chapter 13 and you pay back your debt over a period of 3-5 years with no interest and you only pay back the creditors that file claims. BK sounds much worse than it is, but my office files thousands upon thousands of BK's a year and it gives people a fresh start and most learn from their mistakes in the past. Again, BK looks better on a CR than credit counseling. Despite what you are reading online, your tradelines WILL report as included in a credit counseling repayment plan and while you are in that payment plan you will have a hard time obtaining insurance, bank accounts, etc. since these days those things are based on credit scores/reports.

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Mommy to Nicholas & Emma

When I was paying through credit counciling the only thing I could not get was a credit card. We bought a car, got insurance, etc. I am correcting in saying that in bankruptcy you do not pay back the money you owe?

We did credit counseling a couple years ago. It never showed up on our credit reports. It's up to the credit card companies to note that on your accounts and ours never did. We were able to buy a brand new car at 0% financing while in CCCS and also opened a credit card for emergencies. I guess it's just what company you use and how the credit card companies report it.

Jen

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Mom to Jake, Zach & Meghan
SJCC STREAKS FOOTBALL!!
CLEVELAND BROWNS FOOTBALL!

I honestly think it depends on the agency you go through. Clark Howard's site recommended CCCS. You have to be careful or you can get ripped off.

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Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle

A Chapter 13 you pay back your debt over a period of 3-5 years as noted above. A Chapter 7 your debt is wiped out entirely (provided you qualify).

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Mommy to Nicholas & Emma

Some places do report on your credit report that you are on a credit counseling plan. Do alot of research beofre you decide what you're going to do. I've heard horro stories. payments not getting credited with the credit card companies, or credit card payments being listed as last every month on their credit report because it wasn't a full payment, etc. We had to take a class through one to put 3% down on our house instead of 5%. I asked them about help with our credit cards, we were told our interest rates were lower then they could get us, and it would look bad on our credit report.

Research and see what you can do on your own. Call credit card companies and ask for lower interest rates. A couple of my credit cards will let me skip a couple payments a year (still charge interest). By skipping a couple credit card payments it freed up a little money to let us catch up. The bank we have our car loan through is always sending us offers to skip a payment for a small fee. Tax time is also coming up, if you file right away you'll have your refund (if you get one) by the end of Feb/first part of March.


If your credit is already messed up, it's not going to make that much of a difference. Just check the company out before you go with them. If your credit is good, you might not want to risk it and see what you can do on your own.