Loan-Consolidation

Consumer Debt Counseling & Consumer Credit Counseling

A majority of people would admit to never having been taught the basics of money management and would not even know how to create; much less maintain, their own budget. It’s no surprise that these individuals as well as a large percentage of other Americans have trouble paying their monthly bills. Even if they actually knew how to create a budget, chances are good that they did not bother to do it or that they did not start trying to until they were already buried under stacks of past due notices from their creditors.

If you are already there or you can see it coming in the near future, one tried and true option that you might want to consider would be to seek the help of a consumer credit counseling program, also known as consumer debt counseling.

How Consumer Credit Counseling Works

A representative from your consumer debt counseling program will sit down with you confidentially, either in person or via telephone and discuss your financial situation with you. The initial counseling session may vary somewhat depending on what program or company you choose to work with but all consumer debt counselors will ask that you bring three basic items with you to your initial consultation:

• list of all of your current bills
• Recent statements from your creditors
• Check stub or other form of income verification

Your credit counselor will go over all of the information you provide and will assess and discuss your individual situation with you. Credit counselors are counselors in the true sense of the word. They are there to help you sort out your financial woes long term and not just to offer you a quick fix to the problem. Instead, they will discuss your overall financial picture including where you are now financially speaking and will also analyze how it is you got to this point.

That’s right, you are in counseling and you are going to have to look back in your life to discover what it is that led you to your current predicament. While this can be an uncomfortable step for many, it is absolutely imperative that you do this as it helps you learn from past mistakes. You don’t want to correct your debt problems only to find yourself in the same place a few months or years down the road!

One of the most important things that a consumer debt counseling program can do for you is after the initial assessment and evaluation. Your credit counselor will talk to you about your options and give their expert opinion on what they see as the best option for you. Based on your individual needs, whether it is overall debt, expenses or income, the counselor will possibly even refer you to resources in your community that might be able to help you further. Most certainly, you will be given suggestions on how to change your current lifestyle as well as possible options for decreasing expenses or even increasing your income.

One final note: While there are many consumer credit counselors to choose from, you will often get the best results from a non-profit agency that offers credit counseling to you (the consumer) at no cost to you. Consumer credit counseling agencies exist because there are many people in your situation. In other words, you’re not alone! If you were the only one in need of their services, why would the agency even need to exist?