Many Americans are overwhelmed with debt. If you’re one of them, you probably wonder how you’ll ever manage to escape the debt burden. Have you considered any of the debt management solutions offered by top companies?
Debt consolidation involves combining all your debt payments into a single payment. It’s not a loan. Instead, it’s a way of managing payments on your credit card debts, medical bills, collection accounts, and other debts.
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Debt settlement involves negotiating a lower, lump-sum payment to al your creditors. You may be able to reduce your debt by as much as 60%. However, your creditors must agree to accept the settlement offer. Once you pay your settlement, you have no further obligation to pay the cancelled part of the debt.
Credit counseling is similar to debt consolidation in that your payments are combined into a single monthly payment. The two solutions differ, though, since credit counseling typically involves extensive counseling about your finances, including money management and budgeting.
Living With Debt
Having a wallet full of IOUs puts a great strain on your life. Your money isn’t yours anymore. Instead, it belongs to the banks and bill collectors who call your home all evening long. You feel guilty spending money on anything because you know debt lingers not too far away.
You worry endlessly about how you’re going to take care of all your family’s needs with your limited income. There’s little fulfillment in working because you know you’ll spend little, if any, of your paycheck on something nice for yourself.
If you could only find a way out. If only there was some relief.
National Statistics on Debt
Think you’re alone in your debt ordeal? You’re not. Statistics show that the average American has 9 credit cards with an average $5,000 balance on each. No wonder the debt is so difficult to deal with. Making the minimum payments on just those 9 credit card accounts can be hard to manage. Many households carry other kinds of debt, too.
The U.S. Census Bureau reports that in 2005, the 164 million Americans who held credit cards charged an average of almost $12,500 each to their credit cards.
Experts expect the amount of credit card debt to increase in the coming years. By 2010, they say the balance of credit card debt will be $6,200 for the average American. Indeed, the past has shown that debt only increases. Between 1980 and 2008, the amount of debt consumers carried increased by seven from $355 billion to $2.6 trillion.
People who seek out help from credit councilors own an average of two credit cards and 75% of people seeking help have credit card debt.
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Steps to Eliminate Debt
Even though it seems like there is no way out of debt, many people do manage to work themselves out of debt.
The first step to eliminating your debt is setting up a household budget. Not only does a budget help guide your spending, it also helps you figure out how much you can afford to spend on debt payments each month. Once you have a budget in place, you can better spot leaks in your spending that contribute to your growing debt.
Once you have a budget in place, you should create a list of all your debts. Write down who you owe, how much you owe, and the amount of your interest rate and minimum payment. Use your budget to figure out what you can afford to spend on your debts each month. Then, call your creditors and ask for a lower interest rate and minimum payment while you pay off your debt.
Create a repayment schedule for all your debts. On your schedule, write down the creditor’s name, the payment amount, and the due date. Even if your due dates fall within different parts of the month, you can still send your payments all at one time.
Once you have a payment plan together, it can take a few years to pay off your debt. For example, let’s assume you have three credit cards. Credit Card A has a $2000 balance and a 12% interest rate. Credit Card B has a $1500 balance and a 16% interest rate. Credit Card C has a $700 balance and a 19% interest rate. If you put $200 a month toward those debts, you could be debt-free in 2 years.
Benefits of Debt Consolidation
Many people feel overwhelmed with the process of eliminating their own debts. That’s why working with a debt consolidation specialist can benefit you. With debt consolidation you have...
A single, low monthly payment
Your debt consolidation payment is often much lower than the combination of all your pre-consolidation payments combined. Not only do you benefit from having a lower payment, you also have just one payment amount and due date to remember.
Faster debt payoff
Often, consolidating your debts allows you to pay them off quicker than if you tried to pay them off separately. Most debt consolidation plans are complete within three to five years.
Contact Us For Help
We are a 501(c)(3) Non-Profit Organization with trained specialists who are waiting to help you. After you fill in the form above, one of our debt consolidation specialists will call you speak with you about your debt. If you prefer, you can call us at 1-888-314-1402 at your convenience. We’re open later to better serve you.
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Once you’re on the line with one of our debt consolidation specialists, you’ll received dedicated counseling that matches your unique situation. We’ll work with you to come up with a debt consolidation plan to pay off your debts.
Our free counseling services and free debt seminars are available to you, even if you’re not enrolled in a debt consolidation plan with us.
Having a wallet full of IOUs puts a great strain on your life. Your money isn’t yours anymore. Instead, it belongs to the banks and bill collectors who call your home all evening long. You feel guilty spending money on anything because you know debt lingers not too far away. 
Many people feel overwhelmed with the process of eliminating their own debts. That’s why working with a debt consolidation specialist can benefit you. With debt consolidation you have...