Debt Negotiation Advice - Which is better? To tackle debt settlement yourself or with help?

Which is better? To tackle debt settlement yourself or with help?

I am a single mom of 3 with no financial help. I work full time and have a pt time job to support us and get no other help financially. I have about $12,000 in credit card debt. I have not been able to pay consistantly on them in about 6 mos. I want to get the debt paid and am trying to budget to do so. Is it better to try to settle myself or hire an agency to do so?

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Remember that if you hire an agenc, they will charge you a fee and put you more in debt. If high interest rates are the problem, you can call the credit card company yourself and ask them to lower your rate, They are really good about it if you have been a customer for a long time. Another option is to do what I did and get a new card with a no interest rate for a year offer and that way you are paying on principle and not interest. The key to paying off your debt is to make more than the minimum payment and not to use the card. Credit cards are primarily for emergencies. Good luck to you
Try to consolidate yourself first. Get them all onto one card so you only have to worry about one payment a month. And then cut that one down little by little. If you find that it's not working, then hire an agency... but that should be your last resort. 12k really isn't that bad, compared to the rest of america. I'm a single mom too, (but only with one) and at my worst i has 20k in debt on 7 credit cards. It took me 4 years, but now I'm down to just 3k on one card.
In your situation, you are probably better off trying to deal with the companies yourself. Talk with each of them and tell them that you want to work with them. Most places will accept some type of payment plan - but you have to make sure that you can stick to what you agree.
Be careful! There is an enormous number of "debt settlement agencies" out there that will do nothing but scam you. While there are definitely some legitmate firms, beware! Even the ones that are legitimate will likely be offering more advice than help settling the debt...but that's good. Nothing's free in life, this included. Anytime a company or person says they'll help you reduce or eliminate debt you need to know the condequences. Most often you're better off trying to work out a payment plan with the credit card companies than paying an agency hundreds of dollars to "reduce" your debt only to have it show up as a nasty item on your credit report for years to come. Advice or counseling is what you need. Learn to budget and pick up financial tips from books and trusted advisers. A GREAT resource is a well-known finance guru named Dave Ramsey, check out his website, he's not out to sell you anything. The biggest problem with people in your situation is that once the debt is gone they just end up running up more debt so you need to be sure you tackle the root of the problem as well. Good luck and feel free to contact me if you have any other questions
Well from experience, If its relatively low debt, you can call up each credit card place and talk to them about payment plans. I had a credit card debt once that was $1,000 and they let me I believe, pay $40 every week till I got it paid off. and I got it paid in 6 months. So there willing to work with you as long as they get there money. Now with a credit consolidating agency, you have to be careful cause they might charge you a high interest rate so the amount you owe could be racked up to 13 or 14 thousand dollars. So it would be better to just work with your credit card companies and pay off one at a time or if you can a couple at a time. There is no time limit that you have to pay them back. I still have debt that I havent paid on. If you dont pay them, its up to the credit card company to seek you if they want there money. But the side effect to that is your credit rating will be low. Also sometimes consolidating places say that you have to have a certain amount of debt in order to consolidate. Ive looked into it for myself but I dont have enough debt to do it.
Fixing credit is a series of moves, the right moves done correctly. You seem ready to learn how to manage your debt and I have a couple of suggestions. One - Don't sign up with any paid services until you get educated about all aspects of credit. Two - Talk to your local banker. Most banks have someone on staff who can advise you for free. To get better educated, there is a free ebook - Credit Rescue - in my source below. It covers all aspects of credit and has tips to get you on the right track to make the right moves. No email is required to get it. It's a direct download. Hope this helps. Jim
Check here for a Consumer Credit Counseling Service in your area: http://www.nfcc.org/. These are legit, non-profit companies who will look at your finances and advise you how to proceed. They have a debt managment program available if you qualify. You could try to deal with it yourself. But if you are already defaulting on payments, you may not get much cooperation from the credit card companies.
Work with the credit card compaines yourself, you will end up paying an agency to do what you can do and right now with the situation your in you dont have extra money to pay out. Suze Orman is a great person to help with these situations you should look into reading her books. She gives you the steps to handeling this on your own.
Try using: http://DebtAnswersNow.com I used their service a couple months back and they consolidated all my debt and lowered my total debt about 25%.
Hi, I used "Credit Solution" to settle my debt and improve my credit score.They managed to reduce my debt up to 58%.It's legitimate. Icame across this company on NBC News Special Edition.Check it out here: http://twurl.nl/cpprpl