Is credit card counseling for you? If you’ve exhausted all your loan options, find yourself using one card to pay off another and aren’t sure how much you really owe, then you had better seek out help right away! The further behind you get with bad credit debt, the harder it will be to help you. Be sure to find a company that’s legit, with a proven track record, rather than just settling on the first pop-up ad you see.
Ten years ago, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling and their affiliates at Consumer Credit Counseling Services dominated the credit card counseling scene. They worked with creditors to negotiate payment plans, debt settlements and lower interest rates for people who were slipping behind. However, the rise in consumer debt prompted hundreds of start-ups who were as savvy in the world of advertising as they were credit repair scams.
Some of the competitors, which were often called “debt settlement specialists,” charged big upfront fees to pay off multiple creditors for mere pennies on the dollar. Often, people would pay as much as $3,000 off-the-bat to get their accounts up-to-date, only to find that the debt settlers were not paying off their creditors at all! To find a legitimate business, it is recommended that you verify their identity through the Better Business Bureau and stick with one of the well-known, non-profit organizations, like the aforementioned NFCC and CCCS.
Perhaps you’re waffling back and forth on whether you really need credit card counseling or not. Generally, if you’re able to pay your bills and are current on all your accounts, then do not call credit counselors to negotiate lower interest rates for you. If you’re too far in debt, then credit counseling may also not be able to help you and bankruptcy may be the only option. If a repayment plan takes more than 2-4 years to complete, then bankruptcy is a better option. However, you may be in the market for credit card debt reduction if you can’t pay the minimum balances on your credit cards, if you’re consistently late paying one or more of your bills, if you’re being hounded by creditors and collection agencies and if your attempts to work out a reasonable payment plan have failed.
You may be able to bypass credit card counseling by working on your own to create more responsible spending habits. Limit your impulse buys and begin keeping track of where each dime gets spent. You may be surprised! Treat credit card purchases like debit, subtracting from your savings each time you use it. Don’t promise yourself you’ll “pay it off next month” because you won’t. If you feel like you need a friend, then you may still want to look for a credit card debt reduction company.