Credit Counseling

There are now several credit counseling agencies that are there for the thousands – no millions – of Americans who have gotten into debt that is out of their control. Millions of people now have gotten in over their heads by overspending their budgets, and spending more money than they are making.

This trend has only gotten worse as of late, and doesn’t really show too many signs of slowing, especially with the rampant cost of living.

Housing has gone up, gas prices have gone up, and heck even the cost of the food we eat every day has gone up . It seems lately that inflation is outpacing our salaries, and the out of control credit debt is just one of the many side effects of a society dependent on lenders, banks, and lines of credit to get the bare necessities, and many times to indulge in the finer things in life.

So, out of this trend there have been born many consumer credit counseling agencies, some free and some who charge, which propose to help consumers settle the score with creditors. How? Usually they will negotiate either lower, flexible payments to pay off their credit in exchange for the destruction of the credit cards, and removal of any leftover credit on the cards.

Other times they may negotiate a lower APR (interest rate), so the consumer can pay the card off in less time, and with less constraints of impending interest racking up every time they make a payment.

Here is a list of some of the more well known Credit Counseling Agencies :

CCC – Consumer Credit Counseling – Free, non-profit organization which is government and creditor subsidized.

MoneyManagement.org

FamilyCredit.org