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Debt Consolidation – Don't Hire An Agency; Do It Yourself
By: Charles Essmeier
The average American household now has more than $9000 in credit card debt and
the savings rate in this country is lower than at any time during the Great
Depression. And a quick glance at all of the debt consolidation commercials on
late night television will tell you the obvious – debt is a tremendous problem
in our country today.
Listening to these ads makes it seem as though only the advertisers can help you
get out of debt, as though they have some financial secrets that will allow your
debts to magically disappear. Is that true? If you have a debt problem, do you
need to hire one of these debt consolidation services? Is there another
solution?
The short answer is "no." You do not have to hire a company to get you out of
debt. In all likelihood, the company you would hire cannot do anything that you
cannot do yourself. No one can make your debts disappear; the only way to make
them go away is to either pay them off or file for bankruptcy.
So what do you do? For starters, pick up the phone and call your creditors.
Explain your situation and tell them that you simply cannot make ends meet. You
would be surprised at how often creditors are willing to work out some sort of
payment plan with their debtors, especially if the debtor is behind on his or
her payments. Their motivation Is simple – it is much easier to get some of
their money back, under different terms, from a willing customer than it is to
try to get payment by turning the debt over to a collection agency. It is also
better than writing off the debt as a loss.
By working out an agreement with your creditors you can also avoid having some
nasty notes put in your credit report. If you can fulfill your obligations, you
can have your debt marked "paid as agreed", which is much better than having it
shown as delinquent.
Of course, you can always hire a debt consolidation company to do the above for
you. They can call the creditor in order to work out a repayment play for you.
The only difference is that you will not only have to pay your creditor but you
will also have to pay the debt consolidation company. Just remember that when
those debt consolidation firms run ads on television, they are hoping to make
money from you. If you have a debt problem, you would be much better off using
that money to pay down your debt.
About the Author:
©Copyright 2006 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro
Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including www.End-Your-Debt.com,
a site devoted to debt consolidation and credit counseling.
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