Debt Consolidation

You might be able to take a home equity loan that would likely save you some money on interest charges. It can be as much as 80% of the value of your home. How much do you pay per month on your CC's in total? What is your total CC debt, medical collections, etc? If you find that this is a viable option, then you can pay off your medical and a nice chunk to your CC's. Then work on the card with the highest interest rate, paying as much over theminimum as possible. Once that's paid off move to the next card and pay everything you were paying on the first + the minimum, and so on and so on. Check into it. If you can get a $20k home equity line of credit paid back over 120 months @ 7-8%, you could be in a much better position thatn you are now and you can do it yourself.

A home equity line of credit, as Nascar said, will usually end up being a lower payment at a lower interest rate, and therefore easier to keep up with. However, be very careful that you don't just turn around and rack up more bills on the credit card, because then you will have those bills to pay again, as well as the home equity line.

Another word of caution, if you are not VERY sure that you can better your situation and pay all of your bills once you take out an equity line, then it may not be the best option for you. The debts you mentioned, other than your mortgage, are unsecured debts. If you take out a home equity line, that is a secured debt, and if you end up unable to pay it, they can take your house.

If you would rather go with a debt management plan, try going to nfcc.org. From there you can search for non-profit Consumer credit counseling Services. Their prices are reasonable. Good luck!

Thanks Alias....I should have thrown in the "take your credit cards and throw them in a zip lock bag, fill it full of water and freeze them" to my post. It does take discipline for this to work. It requires you to live w/in or even below your means.