anyone tried consumer credit counseling?

iVillage Member
Registered: 10-30-2004
anyone tried consumer credit counseling?
4
Tue, 08-16-2005 - 3:40pm

I'm in kind of a financial bind. It's not really THAT bad, but I could use a bit of help getting out of this hole. I have student loan payments, car payment, and three credit cards on top of mortgage, utilities and GROCERIES. I'd just like to get some help from them.

Has anyone on here had any luck? I think alot of my problem is all the little "extras" that crop up. My kids always want spending money and I don't always get a chance to go to the grocery store alone as they are home on school vacation and want to come with me.

Do they put you on a budget? I really don't think my interest rates could get much lower than they are. I'd love to either get my car payment lowered or a couple months off while I get budgeted. SOMETHING! I just refinanced my house and had the taxes and insurance added in with the payment so that's one less thing to worry about.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-16-2005
Tue, 08-16-2005 - 8:48pm
You can add any bills to the mix you want. They will negotiate interest and payment amountfor you. You make one payment amount and usually are done in 4 to 5 years. however be carefull which debt service you go with as some take your money have high fees and don't always make your payments. If you are in deeper than you can dig out in 7 years you may consider bankruptcy.
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-08-2004
Wed, 08-17-2005 - 8:54am
You need to be really careful, there are a lot of scams going on in the name of consumer credit counseling. Go to http://www.nfcc.org/ to find a reputable company. Also, call the bank or whoever owns your car loan. See if you can pay interest only for a couple of months or skip a couple payments and tack those payments on to the end. Take that money and pay down some credit card balances.
Avatar for julie364
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 08-17-2005 - 3:14pm
CCC can be a good way to go. You would have to quit using credit cards maybe only one/gas or 1 multi/use when nec. I have not used credit for quite some time. I think learning to plan and using your money wisely is what you will have to work on. If you just refinanced I guess you can not get money in a loan form to catch it all up and then stop using credit. I have also had car payments tagged on the end but you can only do that a couple of times.
When I look back I wonder if I could have paid some bills every other month to catch up without going over 60 days and not totally ruin my credit. Not sure if that would have worked. When you are beyond your means you usually have to get help. Not sure what my fica score is these days. Have you read any of the finance book/advice?
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Wed, 08-17-2005 - 4:19pm
I used CCC during my first marriage. We worked with them for two years. It was a good two years because we didn't have to worry about paying doctor bills (97% of our debt) vs. food, shelter, and clothing for our five kids. In the end, because our doctor bills kept adding up faster than we were paying them down (My ydd has moderate to severe asthma. We had decent insurance, but the co-pays...). It was thier advice that we file bankruptsy at that time. Now that the bankruptsy laws are getting tougher, it is a good place to start even if you think you might have to file in the future. The place we went to was called CCC, not some other name. They can negotiate payments with ALMOST any of your creditors. Some will be nasty about doing so, but you don't have to deal with that. They charged a percentage of the payments that they were making each month. Because our debt was so high and our income allowed for very little to go out in payments each month, they charged us only $10 per month, a minimum flat fee.

Photobucket