Do It Yourself Debt Relief

With mounting bills and unforeseen hardships, you may be considering some form of debt relief. There are many options to help you, but best may actually be you helping yourself. Here are some suggestions for starting debt relief and becoming more solvent.

First, don’t stop communication. While it is a natural response to stop answering phone and let mail stack up unopened, this doesn’t solve anything. Contact your creditors. Explain situation to them. In many cases, they will work with you to reduce your debt by lowering interest rate and waiving over-the-limit and late fees.

Second, stop using all your credit cards. Whether you file for bankruptcy or sign on with a credit counseling service or debt settlement, all of them will demand that you give up your credit cards. Do it yourself now.

Third, make getting out of debt a priority, and work toward debt relief as though you were with a credit counseling service. This is how credit counseling services work. You make one regular payment to them each month, and they disburse your money to creditors. When one is paid off, extra money is applied to other creditors. If you have extra money one month, put it toward one of your bills. As soon as you have paid off that bill, take money you would have spent on that one bill and apply that every month to another bill. By continually making larger payments than what is owed, credit cards will be paid off faster.

Recognizing the Signs that You Might Need Credit Counseling.

Most families in America today have a credit card; some have two or more. The type of credit card you own, gold, platinum, ext, is almost a status symbol in society. The concept is a good one, using your good credit to purchase big-ticket items that you may need time to pay for. If used wisely, credit cards can be a dependable resource, however, sometimes we are unaware of fact that we are overspending. Some may think that if they are able to make monthly payments, then their debt is under control. This is not always case. These are some signs that you may be in or going in direction of having a major financial crisis. * You use your savings to pay monthly bills. * You pay only minimum monthly payments on any of your credit cards. * You take out cash advances to pay your credit card bills, or other bills that you may have. * You are over or nearly over your credit limit on one or more credit cards. * You have been turned down for loans. * You receive calls or letters from collection agencies.