Matt Sawnders asked:




Consumer credit card debt is at an all time high due to the current state of the economy, but there are options that can help you save money and your credit. With a shaky economy and ever increasing inflation, people are running low on both money and time. Unfortunately this equates to ever increasing amounts of people relying on their credit cards to help them through these tough times.

The difficult thing is that eventually your credit dries up and you run out of available money, or like many large financial institutions are doing, they simply reduce your credit line, or deny any further credit, even though you’ve been a loyal paying costumer for years. So with the job market being so bad, and money falling short many people are at their wits end, trying to figure out what to do, and how to make the next monthly payment. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone.

So what should you do and what are your options…well for starters there is bankruptcy, which may sound like a good idea at first, but trust me when I say that having a bankruptcy on your credit file is a living nightmare that will haunt you for years to come. Oh thinking about moving to a bigger newer house in 2 years, not with a bankruptcy on your file you’re not.

The second option is to call your lenders/creditors and speak to them to see if they will either lower your payments, lower your interest rate or both. If you’re extremely lucky you might get someone who will empathize with you, but they won’t be able to help, as it’s not up to them. Most of the time you’ll just get patched through to the collections department whose only job is to get as much money from you as fast as they can. Yeah no air conditioning needed in that department, cuz it’s just plain cold there and you won’t get any sympathy from them.

Here’s the facts, each credit card company has a department that handles consumer credit card debt relief, however they are as difficult to find as Jimmy Hoffa. If you are lucky enough to find them, they won’t want to speak with you as they will only lose money if they try to help. So where should you turn?

There are quite a few third party non-profit organizations that can help you. The best part (and here’s where you want to make sure you’re not cheated) is that these companies don’t collect any up front fees. They are specialists that know exactly who to talk to in each credit card company to provide you relief. The non-profit will get some subsidized income for their services, you’ll end up paying less, at a lower interest rate, and the credit card company will get a nice tax write off to off set any revenue they’ve incurred for the year, a true win-win situation for everyone.

Taking just a few minutes like you are now gaining knowledge of how these things work will pay off (no pun intended) greatly in your financial state, emotional state and will reduce the one thing that effects more people in a negative way than anything and that is stress. So make sure you take a few minutes to find a reputable company that is a non-profit consumer credit card debt relief company and you’ll be on your way to living a happy, less stressful existence, knowing that you can make that mortgage payment without worrying about foreclosure or bankruptcy. There are several good companies out there, go get ‘em!

Jackie