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?
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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.
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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.
© Copyright 2006 by Retro Marketing. Charles
Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm devoted to informational
Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com,
a site devoted to establishing credit, debt consolidation and credit counseling.
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About
the Author
Charles Essmeier,
Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing.
Retro Marketing, established in 1978, is a firm devoted to informational
Websites on topics such as debt consolidation and credit counseling, home
equity loans and lines of credit, and auto Lemon Laws
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