Debt consolidation or continue payments on my own?

Hello Welcome to the forums. Since you have registered a debt counselor will contact you soon. These are trained professionals that can answer your questions. It never hurts to become informed. Best Wishes Kyside38

How do I get my questions answered via a forum? I don't want a debt consolidator to contact me.

With debt consolidation, your payment is put into one lump payment and the company of your choice disburses the payments to your creditors. The main reason I chose Debt Consolidation was because I couldn't catch up on my payments, my credit cards were all maxed out and most over limit and I was getting overlimit charges and late charges. When I entered the program all of my Late charges were stopped and my overlimit charges were waived. All of my credit cards were closed or pending closing after payoff. Another good thing for me was my interest rates were also lowered on my cards. You also have to be careful with the company you choose to consolidate with because some places charge fees that comes out of your monthly payment. However, the first program I was in I did it for almost three years and not one card was paid off. Now if you have high interest rates, maybe you can negotiate with the credit card companies yourself...i've had friends who were successful with that because they were always on time with their payments. If you don't want to go with a consolidation company you will have to discipline yourself and put yourself on a strict budget. Only keep one credit card for emergencies. Concentrate on one or two cards and start sending them larger payments and once those are paid off pick another and do the same thing. I know I typed a lot but I just thought I would put my two cents in and I hope this helps you a little bit.

Pinklady, you have the perfect definition on how a debt consolidation program works. Many people have concerns about their credit and wonder if they use the program, it will hurt their scores.

In a situation when you can't make the payments or are expecting to default in the future, the late fees and the high interest rates will raise the total very high. Even if you pay the minimums, it will go only towards interests, nothing will go towards the principal. It will take forever to clear the debts. Debt consolidation will be a good decision because the late fees will be waived off and the interest rates will be brought down. Everything will combine under one plan and you draw one check to the consolidation company. They post your payments to different creditors included in the plan.

Sadly Undisciplined, you have a choice. If you are expecting defaults, debt consolidation will be the right thing to do. The best thing you can do to your credit is to pay on your own. In case, you are not in a situation to do this, debt consolidation will make your repayment process easier. Even if you are not late in the payments, you will get lower interest rates from the creditors. People use debt management programs when they want to make their repayments easier. You can know your options with the consultant after registering here for the free counseling.

I also want to clear up why I said I never got anything paid off in the first program I chose and I was with them for almost three years. You must be careful with the company you choose to conolidate with. My first company charged a crazy monthly fee and they now have a lawsuit against them. I just searched on the internet for them and went with the first place I found and didn't really know as much then as I do now. The last company I was just with was great, it was a local non-for profit agency I found on the nfcc.org website and their concern is getting you out of debt, not if you can make a monthly contribution to them or not. So if you do decide to go with consolidation, research your company and ask a lot of questions.