When you are desperately looking for ways to save money, it is often hard to see the forest through the trees.
What’s more, wishing that trees grew money isn’t going to help your situation.
If you are drowning in debt and are about to hit rock bottom, you may be overdue for some solid financial help. Believe it or not, assistance is not hard to find. In fact, most people don’t realize that there are almost as many ways to find debt relief as there are credit card offers that flood your mailbox. The trick is finding the option that best suits your situation.
For example, if you maxed out your plastic and can no longer make payments, you might consider working with a consumer credit counseling service. Staff members at these organizations work with you and your credit card companies to find an affordable way for you to start digging out of your debt abyss. In most cases, the solution involves consolidating your debt, so you end up making a single monthly payment to the credit counseling service. The agency then uses that money to pay your individual creditors. This intervention helps eliminate late fees and skyrocketing interest rates; however, depending on which credit counseling service you sign-up with, you may be subject to a nominal fee. If you can’t afford to pay additional service fees, look for groups that receive their funding from credit card companies. In addition, make a habit of always discussing fees with your credit counselor, so you are not shocked by future bills.
Another option is to seek aid via a debt settlement plan. This choice is considered “risky” by most financial experts, but for some people it may be their last hope before declaring bankruptcy. Debt settlement plans force credit card lenders to lower monthly payments by setting up a plan with a third party mediator. The mediator holds your money while continuing to negotiate with your creditors. If all goes according to plan, your creditors will eventually accept a lower bulk payment rather than jumping through legal hoops to get you to fork over the entire debt. The problem with this tactic is that your creditors may not agree to settle and in the end you will accumulate late fees and any missed payments will appear on your credit report.