Be Careful With Debt Consolidation Services
I guess there is no other way to start this article than to just say that there is nothing that debt consolidation services do that you cannot do yourself and probably better than they can. Companies that do debt consolidation services probably mean very well and are probably really nice people but in all honesty what they do with their debt consolidation services is not only something you could do yourself but if you let them do it then you run the risk of having them ruin your credit rating when there is a chance it could be saved. If you have reached the point where you are considering debt consolidation services the obviously your credit rating is probably the last thing on your mind but down the road you may be sorry if you know you can save your credit rating and you did not even try.
For the most part all debt consolidation services do is call up your creditors and make deals for you on how much of your credit you can pay off and how much the creditor can just forget about. Then the debt consolidation services take all of your lowered payments, roll them into one payment, stick their fee in there, and then give you one monthly payment that takes care of all the bills you asked them to take care of. If there was anything in that process that you think you cannot do yourself then you need to go back and re-read what I wrote. You can do your own debt consolidation services and save yourself the monthly fee to the debt consolidation services company. It may not be easy but it can be done.
Get On The Phone And Talk
Creditors just want their money. They don't want to sue you, they don't want to take your car, they just want you to pay them. Most people do not realize that you can pick up the phone and negotiate with a creditor long before you begin to lose any cars or houses or anything. That is where these debt consolidation services come from, they are created around the notion that people are either too lazy or too naïve to call their creditors so they will charge you a fee every month to call your creditors for you once. The last thing you need when you are in debt is more payments so save yourself the fee and pick up the phone.
When I was younger I got behind on my car payments. Instead of waiting for them to take my car I called the loan company. They refinanced my car loan for me, extended it out a couple of more years, but cut my payments in half and I was able to keep my car. You never know what your creditors will accept until you ask. So don't call a debt consolidation services, call your creditors and work with them yourself.
