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debt management for credit cards?*

has anybody used a CCC or debt management program out there? if so, if you had a good experience, could you tell me who you used?? if you had a bad experience, please tell me who you used. thanks!

Answers:

1) Credit card debt consolidation adds up all your unpaid balances and converts them into a single payment. This payment is far lesser than each of the individual payments. When you finalize a plan with a debt consolidation company, the company repays your dues to your creditors. Then you make a single payment to the consolidation company every month. Your average new interest rate is much below the old interest rate. All credit card debt consolidation loans include some type of credit card and debt counseling. You have to trim your lifestyle to eliminate unnecessary expenses. This will allow you to set your house in order. But this necessary, as the ultimate goal of debt consolidation is to help you out of debt, while keeping your home http://debts-to-wealth.com/category/Credit-Card-Debt-Consolidation.html

2) I used CCCS of Atlanta, and had a wonderful experience. I just went through a bankruptcy, and they really helped me through this rough time in my life. They actually follow up with you to make sure you don`t fall into the same trap again. I hope this helps. good luck.

3) I used CCCS several years ago and they worked with my credit card companies to lower both my interest rates and monthly payments, I was debt free in 36-months. They are the largest non profit credit counseling service in the nation, you can reach them at 1-800-388-2227.

4) I have used Care One in the past and they are very good. You can go on line to www.careone.com, you can also use Debt Reduction Services, they are also a good source to use. They will all work with you and tell you whether or not they can help you and whether or not you should look at bankruptcy.

5) I used CCCS from Dallas, TX. They have been really good at making my payments on time. What other people in this post wont tell you is that credit consueling companies will work with you if you close your accounts (which hurts your credit), lower the interest rates and merge your debt into one monthly payment for 3-4 years. So lets say $25,000-$26000 is about $700/month if your interest rates vary between 0-9%. The objective of the program is there to eliminate your debt the point of closing your accounts is to keep you from getting further into debt but closing accounts hurts your credit. You are allowed only 1 credit card for emergency uses, the interest rate on that is not lowered. Make sure that the accounts are current when you close the accounts (no late payments for 30,60,90 or 120 days) because if you join the program when your accounts have not been current, they will be re-aged, but they still may stay adversed/frozen as not current until you finish the program which can take 3-4 yrs, which also hurts your credit for few yrs. 2nd thing you should know is you cannot apply for any additional lines of credit while you are in the debt management plan through credit consueling. So have to wait until you pay all of the debt off and complete your program. Then once youre done, the creditors will report "paid as agreed" on your credit report. If you are able to open a line of credit, great! but the consueling services may ask you to consolidate that too because the point of the program is to stay out of debt. Third thing is: for next few years some creditors will report on your credit report as "managed by credit consueling services" which looks really really bad and then youre finished paying, you can ask for those remarks to be dropped off but you have to fight with the bureaus to get it off. Good luck to you, I liked CCCS but I rather be honest with you and tell you what I have learned while others may not share with you. I lived on cash for 4yrs, didnt take expensive vacations, and lived on a very very tight budget. I got two paychecks a month:I used my first paycheck to survive, and the second paycheck went to CCCS. Now that I'm debt free It is great. I still run into "brick wall" time to time when a creditor finds out I used CCCS and they sometimes dont always give me a good interest rate. Overall I'm glad I did it but I'm not happy with the choices I have made. I now contribute heavily on my 401K, Roth IRA, and a high yield savings account, I still live off cash and still go to cash when I need something, I dont use credit as much. I owe it to myself that I need to stay debt free because I'm not going to spend my youth paying someone.

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