Debt Credit Counseling

A debt consolidation and credit counseling service may be the answer to how people who have suffered serious financial shortages can restore their credit rating or reduce the monthly payments that are burdening them. Whether a job loss or serious illness is the problem, or unexpected expenses not covered by insurance have left a debtor short of cash, a counseling service can provide the lifeline out of this quagmire. Creditors usually will not deal with the debtor to reduce the bill, but a third party can often get results. A financial counselor is an effective third party. Utilizing this service will provide the consumer with lower interest rates and lower monthly payments. "Take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us." (Isaiah 8:10)

Counselors can establish an account where the debtor's payments are deposited, and the service then distributes the money to the various creditors. This arrangement can be set up for three to five years. At the end of that time the debtor will have paid all his creditors, and will be debt free. During the time current bills are being paid off, no credit purchases are allowed. Any debt consolidation and credit counseling service will require the debtor to divest of all credit cards. It isn't hard to find a credit counseling service, especially with the help of the Internet. A debtor should ask questions of any service he is thinking of engaging to be sure he is not being led to bankruptcy court. Bankruptcy leaves a debtor with a bad credit rating for a long time. There will be the added cost of a bankruptcy attorney. It should be an absolute last resort.

In an effort to prevent this from happening again, especially if some of the debt has been the result of simple over consumption, the debt consolidation and credit counseling service will counsel the debtor on better ways to handle his/her finances. For most, it is a matter of establishing a budget that is used at all times. Priorities for spending are recognized, and "wants" separated from "needs," as a first step. The credit counseling service is probably the first instructor in financial responsibility that many debtors have had. If it hasn't been a priority in the family they came from, they were not taught fiscal responsibility. Once a debtor has benefited from these services, they have the tools for a financially secure life.

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