Has anyone done debt consolidation??

[llori7]

We all hear the commercials on the radio. Has anyone actually called and got help? We have a lot of cc debt that I am trying to pay off, but it is going to take forever. Is it a scam or do they really work?? I want to know what these commercials are all about. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!!!

 

[GetGlowing]

Many of the debt help companies that advertise on the radio take your money and run, or give you very little service.

If there's a certain firm you're considering, do internet research on the company name to see what kinds of complaints are against them -- research at BBB, Federal Trade Commission, state attorney general websites, etc.

My husband and I worked our way through Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover plan (found in the book of the same title, and he has a website) and we are now debt free. When we started we had over $50,000 owed. I highly recommend his method for paying off debt. It's not easy! And it's not quick! But using his plan will help "retrain" your spending habits and help you stay out of debt in the future.

GOOD LUCK to you!!!!

 

[kaismahma]

I have never used one personally but I know a few who have and they have said it was the worst mistake they ever made. I agree with the previous poster use Dave Ramsey's program. You will see a light at the end of the tunnel if you follow thru with his program. We love Dave!

 

[llori7]

Many of the debt help companies that advertise on the radio take your money and run, or give you very little service.

If there's a certain firm you're considering, do internet research on the company name to see what kinds of complaints are against them -- research at BBB, Federal Trade Commission, state attorney general websites, etc.

My husband and I worked our way through Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover plan (found in the book of the same title, and he has a website) and we are now debt free. When we started we had over $50,000 owed. I highly recommend his method for paying off debt. It's not easy! And it's not quick! But using his plan will help "retrain" your spending habits and help you stay out of debt in the future.

GOOD LUCK to you!!!!

We have right around $50,000. How do you do the Dave Ramsey program? Does it cost money? Do you just buy a book or is it classes? How long did it take you to pay off your debt?

We said no more Disney till we are debt free. That is my motivation!!

 

[LadyBeBop]

My daughter has. Big mistake. I don't know how much she paid a month to them, but they would only pay a few bucks to her creditors and pocket the rest. She dropped them, and now is working with her creditors to pay them off, bit by bit. Her credit score right now is lousy, but she landed a good paying job, and hopefully she will be close to being debt free in a few years.

 

[lady_hlh]

Many years ago my DH and I got a consolidation loan from Household Finance and cut up our credit cards, this helped us to pay off over $10,000 in CC debt more quickly. On the other hand a single mom at my office who had over $10,00 in CC debt signed up with one of those companies who promises to negotiate your CC balances down as a final payout. She paid them a few hundred dollars and they did nothing to help her so she finally ended up cancelling the contract. Then she got a loan from her parents to pay off all the CCs that she hadn't paid on for months and negotiated some of the balances down on her own.

 

[dd50]

They are a waste of money. You can do it yourself so much easier. If you are behind but they haven't charged off call them and explain that you are having a hard time and they may be able to reduce your interest. If they have charged off and you are dealing with the slimy debt collectors, google your rights for your state and use them. The debt collectors don't follow the rules.

 

[DisnyMik]

We started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University course at our church. It is a 13 week course and we are going into our 9th week. We are soooo into it. Now, of course there are places we could buckle down and do better, but is it so liberating not to worry mid way through the month if you have hit your overdraft protection on your bank account yet!!
We are using the 'envelope system' and it is working. We still have a lot to learn and a lot of ironing out kinks in our budget, but so far it is great. If we work it right, we will have paid off (or managed to get rid of) over $2000 debt since we started the end of June. Part of that was we cleaned out the basement and had a huge garage sale. We made over $700! That doesn't count what we let our DS11 keep for selling toys. He worked hard at it as well. He was our legs going up and down the stairs. We opened up a savings acct. for him. He and our DD18 are also doing DR! Might as well teach them the right way so they don't have to go what we are going thru now!
It seems unreal, and we never would have been able to come up w/that kind of $$$ before this course. All we did was take control of OUR money instead of our money controlling us!
We are far from out of debt, but every little goal we make we can see the light!
We HIGHLY recommend Dave Ramsey and the Fin. Peace University. It is $100 but well worth it. We have obviously seen the return on that investment.

 

[GetGlowing]

We have right around $50,000. How do you do the Dave Ramsey program? Does it cost money? Do you just buy a book or is it classes? How long did it take you to pay off your debt?

We said no more Disney till we are debt free. That is my motivation!!

You can do Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover via his book of the same name, which you should be able to find online or in a bookstore for $20 or less It's been a NYT bestseller. There are also "Financial Peace University" classes offered around the country that teach his plan. It's a 13-week class that costs around $100 to take. It's worth every penny, and more! You can look up the class locations on his website. You can also do the class online, but I think you get more out of the classes you attend. I have taught the class twice.

His plan is based on baby steps: get current with all your debtors, save a $1000 emergency fund, pay off all your debts from smallest to largest regardless of the interest rate, save up a 3-6 month emergency fund, and then work on retirement savings, college savings, and bumping up your giving.

Hope that helps!

 

[mrsklamc]

You can also get Dave's book from your library. OR, work on the following two things until Labor Day:

1. Get current with your debtors.
2. Establish a 1,000 dollar emergency fund.

Then, on Labor Day, his books will probably be on sale for $10, they usually are on holidays.
You can also check out his website and listen to his radio show in the meantime.

He refers to it as debt CON-solidation- a con. So, he definately doesn't recommend it.

 

[pixiedustaholic]

Another vote for Dave...it works!

 

[GenieCat]

There are reliable, non-profit debt counseling services available through your local United Way agencies. They typically do not advertise, and don't need to.

The others are either basically collection services associated with the credit card companies, or a scam. If in doubt, tt's always a good idea to check the Better Business Bureau http://www.bbb.org .

Even if you use a non-profit debt counseling service, your credit history will be affected. It's much better to work it out, whether with Ramsey, or on your own.

Good luck!

 

[SarahKate]

There are legitimate debt consolidation companies out there. Consumer Credit Counseling Services has been around for many, many years and was actually recommended to me by a financial institution. It's a very legitimate company.

The moment I signed on with them, creditor calls ceased. They workd w/ the creditors to either reduce interest significantly OR even waive interest all together. I paid CCCS once a month and they paid the creditors. There was a charge each month, but it was VERY minimal.

Once you sign on with them, you have to stop using your cards all together and they also offer budget counseling as well as other types of classes. I recall going to a first time homebuyers class that they had coordinated and it was very helpful.

This has been about 10 years ago, but I know others have used CCCS.

As other posters said, you can definitely try Dave Ramsey as well. Of course, it takes a lot of discipline! Best of luck to you.

 

[brivers222]

if you are going to consider debt consolidation, i would highly consider a free consultation with a bankruptcy lawyer before you give any of those companies ANY of your money. Or work independently with the credit cards to get a reasonable price. The debt consolidation companys are OUT TO TAKE YOUR MONEY! your interest is not in mind... only your monthly fee you pay! i made that mistake and will never do it again!

 

[Nancyg56]

There are legitimate debt consolidation companies out there. Consumer Credit Counseling Services has been around for many, many years and was actually recommended to me by a financial institution. It's a very legitimate company.

The moment I signed on with them, creditor calls ceased. They workd w/ the creditors to either reduce interest significantly OR even waive interest all together. I paid CCCS once a month and they paid the creditors. There was a charge each month, but it was VERY minimal.

Once you sign on with them, you have to stop using your cards all together and they also offer budget counseling as well as other types of classes. I recall going to a first time homebuyers class that they had coordinated and it was very helpful.

This has been about 10 years ago, but I know others have used CCCS.

As other posters said, you can definitely try Dave Ramsey as well. Of course, it takes a lot of discipline! Best of luck to you.

My son used this agency and was very happy. He never was at the point that he could not make his payments but he was getting sick thinking about them. They told him he could keep one card but he canceled it as well as the other ones and paid his debts even fasted then the plan he was on.

My DH cousin also used CCCS and has been successful at paying down her debts adn tehn turning her credit around.

if you are going to consider debt consolidation, i would highly consider a free consultation with a bankruptcy lawyer before you give any of those companies ANY of your money. Or work independently with the credit cards to get a reasonable price. The debt consolidation companys are OUT TO TAKE YOUR MONEY! your interest is not in mind... only your monthly fee you pay! i made that mistake and will never do it again!

I am so sorry that you had this experience. I think that there are plenty of companies that will do this and that is a shame. I believe that research is the key. It is unfortunate that you did not use an agency like CCCS, they have had success in helping many people pay dopwn their debts while also allowing them to rebuild their credit. While I understand why bankruptcy may be the only answer for some folks it may not be the best solution.

 

[Lorix2]

I don't have any experience with an agency.

Five years ago I went to my local credit union and got a debt consolidation loan and paid off the debt I had with that at a much lower percentage rate.

I know that was the easy way out for me, because I do not budget well, but it got paid faithfully every month and with a lot less interest than what I would have paid to the cc companies or to an agency.

Just a suggestion.

It's great that you are trying to pay down your debt, it's not easy and we've all been there and you can do it too.

 

[dispor]

There are legitimate debt consolidation companies out there. Consumer Credit Counseling Services has been around for many, many years and was actually recommended to me by a financial institution. It's a very legitimate company.

I absolutely agree. Make sure you get the name EXACTLY correct. There are a lot of companies that try to use a similar sounding name.

I am surprised to hear they may let you keep one credit card. That wasn't true at the time I looked into using them (many, many years ago). (Did not end up needing to use them, though.)

 

[Microcell]

I am a fan of Dave Ramsey and have not taken the Financial Peace class yet.. you can get a good start with just the book.. which you can get on his website for $10.00 sometimes!

We had 16,000 in cc debt and now are at 7,900 since March!!! You can do it yourself!

 

[Karalea]

I considered debt consolidation to get rid of some excessive credit card debt but decided against it.

I found that by calling the card credit companies directly, I was able to get into programs they sponsor and will be paying off my debt directly in 5 years.

Chase is one example. I have just enrolled in their BLP (or is it BPL?) I was able to lower my interest rate by almost 1/2 and will be making smaller, more manageable payments each month for 60 months. My minimum before was over $300 a month and on the new plan, it will be $156. I can make extra payments anytime I want to pay it off faster. My interest rate is guaranteed not to go up as long as I pay by the due date. I set it up to come out of my checking account each month to avoid this. Of course, being in the program closes the account but I don't want to add to the debt anyway. These numbers are based on about a $7000 balance.

It might not hurt to call your creditors and see what they can offer you. I know Bank of America has a similar program. You account must be current in order to enroll and you have to answer a bunch of questions about your monthly expenses. It took about 15 minutes on the phone.

Good Luck to you.

 

[Dictator]

a few years ago i worked as a credit collecter. I did it for .5 years. If you are currently behind, the best thing to do is to call the companies you currently have balances with. More often than not, they have a plan that might be able to help you. There are Debt consolidation companies, and Debt settlement companies. be careful who you sign up with. More often than not, people who chose the "debt settlement" route ended up in arbitration with the company I worked for.