Is CC Counseling ever the answer?
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| Fri, 07-24-2009 - 11:30pm |
I am having a really bad week emotionally dealing with all of our debt (my husband and me). I feel like the world is closing in on us financially and I am having a hard time picturing even what the next year will be like. I have to get all of our papers together and add up all of our cc debt but I know that we are probably around 50k or so in unsecured debt.
My husband is in the process of looking for a full time job. His hours had been cut back significantly since Dec 08. It's not an easy task. To be honest, I would say about 25% of our income goes to cc payments.
Has anyone ever done cc counseling? Is it ever the answer or does it do way more harm than good?
I feel so embarrassed and ashamed of all of our debt. At this point we are current on our bills but are just staying afloat. I am not sure how much longer that can happen if my husband does not find a steady job.
I feel sick to my stomach and just can't look past all of our debt and I feel so helpless.
Any advice?

CCCS is a fine way to go. But you need to find one
Thanks for the tips. We are working on several leads for my husband and his job.
Will CCCS lower my overall monthly payments?
Anyone know of a reputable one?
Will it kill my credit score? (or will that be killed even more from having high balances on several cards and only paying the minimum?)
I found a CCCS years ago through the Red Cross. If any CCCS charges more then 25.00 a month then I would not go with them. Other people would know that more then me. Where to find one that is Non Profit.
Does it hurt you? Well that depends CCCS sends out checks once a month to all your creditors. Mostly credit cards. They send out CHECKS not pay on line or through bill pay. So you need to find out what day the CCCS sends out the checks. Then you need to call all your credit cards and make sure that the due dates are all changed to fit at least 10 days after the CCCS sends out their checks. If you don't do this then some of your payments will be late. Not good.
CCCS can make deals to lower your interest rate. And many banks deals with them on reducting your payments. It would depend on who you owe how much they can help you. They can't help with Car payments that much or other set payments
Credit scores are being figured so many different ways these days. . According to some of the shows on TV if your balance is more then 30% to 50% of your credit limit then your score is going to go down. Department store and cards like Lowes and Home Depot will pull your score down a lot. Because the limit on them are so low. One purchase can be way more then the 30% or 50% of those cards limit.
We were in the CCCS for around a year
It sounds like your credit score should be ok right now if you are current on everything? Have you ever gotten your credit score? I hear it is free once a year so that might be something to check into.
If your score is good, then it might be best to do this on your own. Concentrate on some low balances to knock them out first so you have more breathing room to work with in life and to throw to the other debt. Have you posted your balances with interest rates and what income is coming in before? The ladies are really good at giving advice on how what to tackle first here.
Is it possible for one or both of you and your husband to get a part time job to make ends meet and knock out one of those cards to give you more breathing room? What about selling some things you do not need to get you started?
Good luck.
Hi. I skimmed through this thread and only have one thing to add...
Really check out whether using the service hurts your score. I know that when I checked into it during my divorce in 99, the service was kind enough to volunteer to me that while THEY don't report anything, once they enter into an agreement with the CC companies on your behalf, the cc companies can ding your report because of the fact that you needed to change your payments/interest etc with them. (I've found that the cc companies can do similar things even when you deal with them one on one too if you're trying to change minimum payments. GE money explained that to me several years ago when I lost a grant worth 320 a month and looked into doing something with my old Sam's Discover. I opted not to go with the plan and just work harder to save and pay.)
I also opted not to use the service at that time and I was fine until two summers ago when some bad health stuff came up. I think about it some now, since my score can't get any lower anyway. For now I'm still just digging myself out because luckily my situation was specific, short term and didn't affect my income too much.
Good luck
Lissa
I used the Consumer Credit Counseling program about 10 years ago and was extremely (happily) surprised with their service. Please do research this is based on my experience only.
http://www.consumercredit.com/
I was assigned a "counselor"
I had to do was provide a list of all of my creditors and balances. They contacted each one and negotiated the best rate possible with each creditor. Then I paid one monthly payment to the Consumer Credit Counseling program (plus a $3 monthly fee) and they paid the creditors.
They provided a ton of resources - mostly online - but I did have a one-on-one call at certain time intervals and they were great whenever I called - I had one person to contact. They also helped me set up a budget at the start of it all.
The "catches"?
I was making a payment to them for 2-3 years.
You cannot use any of the credit cards once they are in the program - the cards are considered "closed"
It did show up on my credit report as "account closed" at credit management program request or something similar but I am not sure how it directly affected my credit score - I was not relying on my score for anything at that time so I did not really track it.
I hope this helps but again, I am not sure what it did to my credit score.
Hi,
I am in it now (for the 2nd time, my own fault). I felt like I was drowning in debt.