Need Advice: I am new to this forum and overwhelmed!!!!

alfa - welcome to the forums! You've come to the right place for some helpful advice. :-)

First and foremost, contact your creditors - all of them - and explain your situation. With your wife out of work, many of them should be willing to work with you on a reduced payment plan if you have been an excellent customer in the past (paying on time consistently).

Will your wife be getting another job soon, or not? If there is a prospect of her having another job within a month or so, your creditors should be willing to work with you for that amount of time.

If her job loss is permanent, then this may be the time for you to seek debt consolidation help. Our ranking chart (see the menu) will help you select an agency in your area that will be able to help you.

Keep us posted on your progress! :-)

My wife being out of work is not the main reason I am seeking help. Yes, I am sure she'll find something soon. But even if my creditors were to work with me, would it be to an extent that I could have lower payments and pay off my loans significantly quicker? Exactly what should I be asking them for? Once my wife goes back to work, we will still need to pay down the debt, which is near impossible as we can just afford the minimums based on current interest rates. Would a debt consolidation company be of any added benefit here?

Thanks.

I see what you're saying, alfa. Is there any big rush to get the debt paid off? A consolidation company will help you get it paid off, but many of them charge a fee for their program...so it's possible you may not save much. (If I'm wrong on this point, someone please correct me! Thanks!)

I guess the way I see your situation is this: you didn't get into debt overnight, and you're not going to get out of it overnight. It's going to take time, and it may take longer than you really want it to. But in the end, you will have the satisfaction of a good credit rating, and knowing your hard work paid off!

I am not an expert in consolidation programs, but I know other members here have quite a bit of knowledge about them, and I'm sure someone will be along shortly to help answer any other questions you may have. :-)

As suggested, I looked at the ranking in my state, then read the reviews. I went to their homepage and filled out an application, which also gives estimates savings with their program. By the looks of it, they should be able to save me at least a couple hundred a month AND have all debt paid off in under 4 years. If this is even close to actual, then I should be debt free and investing for my family's future very soon. I feel very good that I am finally taking some positive steps....

So, I called ACCC (which was ranked highly on this web page), and the person I spoke to could not have been less interested in me or my needs. She never introduced herself, and never asked me any personal questions. She basically read her script, and was not one bit helpful. I asked if she was a credit counselor, and she said she was. I was dumbfounded. What qualifies these people to do what they do? It seems everything is automated, including her script and the figures her computer spits out. I feel scammed already. Can anyone reccomend a company that actually cares to help their clients, because ACCC apparently does NOT. I want to be able to trust the comapny I give my money to....

I don't mean to get nosey, but what kind of debt are we talking about? Can you name a few?

Another company called me (I applied online), and what a difference! He was from a debt settlement company. And even though I told him I was not interested in debt settlement, he still discussed all my options with me. He even suggested I go to my bank and try a personal loan, since this would not hurt my credit score, and I may still be able to eliminate my debt in a reasonable length of time.

Does anyone think this could work? Whay would a bank want to loan me anything....unless they'd like to make money on the interest instead of another company?

Well, I will explore this option and try the bank tomorrow....

nearly 80K, spread mostly between Amex & BOA accounts....whay do you ask?

What sort of debts do you owe?

I was trying to get a feel for what can be done separately to the debts. Handling them differently was what I was looking at.

You can look these over, regarding BOA, and it may offer some insight: http://www.my3cents.com/search.cgi?criteria=Bank+of+America

Here is some information on AMEX:http://www.amexsux.com/

when you all find it let me know too asap. i sure could use it .

i have even contacted some of the companys to help. and nothing they seen like no help for me. they dont care. and i dont want to file bk. can anyone work out of the state of kansas. what the deal with the state. geez i feel like iam in prison in the state.