So if you think that you have to wait until you win lottery to start learning about money, think again. Now is time to start, while it’s all very small. You can’t hurt yourself too badly when your bank account is small, and you can learn a whole lot. It’s never size of your bank account that matters—it’s how you deal with money, no matter size of your bank account. And in this case, size does matter and smaller is better. Good luck on implementing this top wealth creating habit!

So what's problem? It's simple. Your creditor won't agree to accept half of your actual debt unless, or until, it can be paid in full. Otherwise, you're expected to make your normal monthly payments.

Since you don't have $2,000 in your trust account, and you won't have it until more than a year after you stopped paying your creditor directly, they'll probably take you to court and request that your wages be garnished long before you have that $2,000 built up.

And what about your other creditors? Well, they'll be waiting even longer to get their money from settlement company. The $6,000 debt will take 15 *more* months to pay off, assuming your creditor waits that long and agrees to 50%. And that $10,000 bill? You do math.

On other hand, if you signed up for a 3 year plan with settlement company, your debts would be paid off sooner. But, question is, will your creditors wait that long? Probably not.

The facts are, you can negotiate with your creditors yourself. Most will agree to take a smaller monthly payment from you and stop all interest and fees from accruing. And, of course, you'll save thousands of dollars in fees to a settlement company.

Before signing up for any service, please be sure you check out company thoroughly. And don't let words "non-profit" fool you either. Alot of debt settlement companies claim to be non-profit.

Going back to example above, if you pay them $15,000 over a 5 year time frame and they settle your debts at half of what you owed, they'll make $5,000 from you. I'd call that a profit, especially since they might not have actually helped you in any way.

Most companies will allow you to cancel your account and get a refund of what you've paid, less non-refundable admin fee and monthly service fees. If you feel you've been mislead about their program, don't hesitate to argue til cows come home. File a complaint with Better Business Bureau or hire an attorney if you feel you're getting nowhere.

You can visit Better Business Bureau's website (http://www.bbb.org) and find reports on hundreds of companies. Here's a small listing of companies that have poor reputations with BBB:

National Consumer Debt Council LLC - Irvine, CA (A.K.A. NCDC, United Consumer Law Group)

Financial Rescue Services - Burbank, CA

Debt Legal Services - Anaheim, CA

American Debt Relief - Los Angeles, CA (A.K.A. A M Debt, American Debts Relief, Debt Relief)

Please be very cautious when choosing a debt help company and ask lots of questions before agreeing to anything. If you find they're evading your questions, run fast and run far. There are reputable companies out there, so keep looking until you find one.

Denise Hall is the owner of Home Business on a Budget which specializes in tools and resources for your home business needs. Visit http://www.home-business-on-a-budget.com today. Get weekly articles, tips, information and resources here: http://tinyurl.com/4f9k8