debt consolidation was answer for me

[afterbk]

I havent filed for a bk primarily becasue I found a great company that consolidated my debt and lowered apr, and got everything into one payment. I had about 22k in cc debt but so far its working out really great. Stinks not having a credit card as they make you close them all down, but it is teaching me how to live on only what I make. Kinda tight but it has improved my credit score. Just an fyi.

[yoyoma51]

I'm sure many on this site will be curious to know how much of your debt actually pay down after one year vs. how much you actually paid the company.

[HHM]

Well, why don't you fill us in on the comparative details (not the name of the company)

What is your new APR, what is your new Payment, how long will the plan last...do you know if all your creditors are participating, what was your old APR and Payment, etc.

Also, you should probably check your credit report in a couple months.

In any event...we are not "anti" debt management, but there is really only a narrow window of opportunity for such a program to work for debtor's. By the time most people have the realization they need help, that opportunity has long since past.

Also, strictly speaking, since you have not completed the program, you can't really say it was the "answer" for you, yet.

[nazstar]

Not to bash debt consolidation but I tried that. It wasn't so easy for me.
- I was still paying interest on the credit card balances.
- I was still makeing HUGE payments each month.
- I was paying a fee every month for the services.
- Not all my cards would participate
- I didn't see my balances move ONE BIT! In fact, I have some cards where the balances are just as high as they were when I started the program (I was in it for only 4 months).

In fact, the debt counselor told me up front that I should just file for bankruptcy.

[JollyGG]

In fact, the debt counselor told me up front that I should just file for bankruptcy.

Same here. That is what led us to our decision to file. Their was no way to realistically increase our income enough to support any sort of repayment plan.

Clerify what you did. Lots of companies deal with debt in different ways.
- Did you get a debt consolidation loan (Get a new loan, pay off all debts, only have one loan, hopefully with a lower interest rate)?
- Did you go through a debt management program (they negotiate a lower interest rate with your creditors, you pay them a lump sum every month, they distribute it amongst your creditors, usually included a montly program fee)?
- Did you go with a company that will try and negotiate you debt down (You pay them a set amount every month and stop paying creditors. They take their monthly fee and put the rest in savings. Once you are in serious enough default and enough money has accumulated in your account they make a settlement offer to your credit cards, each in turn)?

[Cassiopeia]

I used CCCS when I was very young and I just loved it. Of course back then (that was eons ago), I had VERY little debt compared to what I had at this time in my life, prior to my BK. But still, I had collectors after me and it was horrible to go through. I felt CCCS saved my life, really.

Somehow or other I got back in the same situation, and even worse, many years later.

I went to CCCS once again, but I waited far too long. Even WITH their reduced interest rates, my income was less than my outgo would be, so CCCS was not an option. The counselor there recommended that I try for a re-mortgage of my home (I had a HELOC at the time). She was STRONGLY against bankruptcy. I did speak with a mortgage company that was going to work with me, for a mortgage loan which would have included my HELOC, my existing auto loan, as well as all my credit card debt. Unfortunately, during that time, my credit score was literally plummeting day by day. The mortgage company gave me an offer but then had to rescind it, due to my credit rating.

So.....I was at that point faced with no alternative BUT bankruptcy. Sometimes CCCS actually CANNOT help a person.

Now that this is all behind me, I thank my lucky stars that I was forced into bankruptcy as opposed to CCCS, which is what at the time I really wanted. If I knew then what I know now....I am TOTALLY free of debt and I love it.

Whew. Sorry for rambling.

P.S. This is why I think Suze Orman really stinks with her advice! She is totally against BK at any cost.....but how would she advise me (and others), who did not have CCCS (or anything else) as an option???? I am close to retirement right now; I CANNOT get a different job, or an additional job, to supplement my income....what choice did I have? None! CCCS works great for some, but for some it is NOT an option at all!

[FreshLikeADaisy]

For those totally against bk at any cost, all I can think when I hear that or see that is, "What a charmed life they must have led."

There's a line from Emily Dickinson that goes, "Tragedy enacted secures applause that tragedy enacting too seldom does," and that sums it up well for me. No one who hasn't been through it understands the pain and confusion and stress and even despair that precedes a "little guy" consumer bk. Never having experienced it, they see no reason why you couldn't have done better. While I am very much aware that some people *could* have done better (gambling debts, for instance, whatever) my own story -- unemployment followed by disability WITH little debt and savings in the bank that had to run out in time -- has not deterred judgemental people from shaking their finger at me the least little bit.

The fact of the matter is that security is largely an illusion, but a necessary one in our culture, because of the way we marginalize and dismiss those who fall outside the illusions of our security (the homeless, for example, or the returning war vets who are being victimized out of help and benefits by the same govt that sent them, or the mentally ill who really don't fit in anywhere, etc). It's not just a matter of feeling safe, but also the sure knowledge, somewhere in our hearts, of what exactly our society does to those who do not fit, who truly cannot help themselves, who fall and cannot get up. This particular mental sword is double edged, and very scary. So we do what we can to hide from it, even if that means we have to blame the blameless and judge the sinless. I know that's very pat language, but you get the general idea.

When I see a finger wag at people who bk, I see the same people who step over the homeless and look away from people in wheelchairs, those who if they give at all, give from a distance. Because they themselves have been lucky enough to never experience the other side of the coin, they assume that if we just try hard enough or do the right thing or -- as I started to call it after hearing the same speech one too damn many times -- do the right rain dance, it will all work out. Because the alternative is to admit that there really is no guaranteed security in this lifetime. People get sick, die, become homeless, mentally ill, victimized by senseless crime, all of that, every single day... but it doesn't exist until it has happened TO ME. Until that day, I can wag my finger in good conscience at whoever I like, and never realize how I myself contribute to their suffering.

Anybody ever notice how there are actually very few finger waggers on this board, and when one pops up they generally get a polite but firm smackdown? That's because it HAS happened to us. We KNOW what is illusory and what is not. And having been "broken" in this fashion, we will never easily judge another bk again.

So I hear the Suze Ormans and the Dave Ramseys (who himself declared bk but is against if for everyone else, apparently) and even my own relatives and acquaintances, and I think, "Oh what a charmed life you must lead," and smile sweetly, and keep walking. Let them have their speeches and fine words. I would not trade what I have been through for that charmed illusion, not for all the money in the world.

[BKcrazy]

I've heard worse things about debt consolidation companies than I have about filing BK.

[dp1969]

For those totally against bk at any cost, all I can think when I hear that or see that is, "What a charmed life they must have led."

There's a line from Emily Dickinson that goes, "Tragedy enacted secures applause that tragedy enacting too seldom does," and that sums it up well for me. No one who hasn't been through it understands the pain and confusion and stress and even despair that precedes a "little guy" consumer bk. Never having experienced it, they see no reason why you couldn't have done better. While I am very much aware that some people *could* have done better (gambling debts, for instance, whatever) my own story -- unemployment followed by disability WITH little debt and savings in the bank that had to run out in time -- has not deterred judgemental people from shaking their finger at me the least little bit.

The fact of the matter is that security is largely an illusion, but a necessary one in our culture, because of the way we marginalize and dismiss those who fall outside the illusions of our security (the homeless, for example, or the returning war vets who are being victimized out of help and benefits by the same govt that sent them, or the mentally ill who really don't fit in anywhere, etc). It's not just a matter of feeling safe, but also the sure knowledge, somewhere in our hearts, of what exactly our society does to those who do not fit, who truly cannot help themselves, who fall and cannot get up. This particular mental sword is double edged, and very scary. So we do what we can to hide from it, even if that means we have to blame the blameless and judge the sinless. I know that's very pat language, but you get the general idea.

When I see a finger wag at people who bk, I see the same people who step over the homeless and look away from people in wheelchairs, those who if they give at all, give from a distance. Because they themselves have been lucky enough to never experience the other side of the coin, they assume that if we just try hard enough or do the right thing or -- as I started to call it after hearing the same speech one too damn many times -- do the right rain dance, it will all work out. Because the alternative is to admit that there really is no guaranteed security in this lifetime. People get sick, die, become homeless, mentally ill, victimized by senseless crime, all of that, every single day... but it doesn't exist until it has happened TO ME. Until that day, I can wag my finger in good conscience at whoever I like, and never realize how I myself contribute to their suffering.

Anybody ever notice how there are actually very few finger waggers on this board, and when one pops up they generally get a polite but firm smackdown? That's because it HAS happened to us. We KNOW what is illusory and what is not. And having been "broken" in this fashion, we will never easily judge another bk again.

So I hear the Suze Ormans and the Dave Ramseys (who himself declared bk but is against if for everyone else, apparently) and even my own relatives and acquaintances, and I think, "Oh what a charmed life you must lead," and smile sweetly, and keep walking. Let them have their speeches and fine words. I would not trade what I have been through for that charmed illusion, not for all the money in the world.

Well said, Daisy!!!

[dp1969]

I, too, did the CCCS thing (when I was much younger) and even though a substantial debt was paid...I found out 1 year into it that some creditors were not being paid. Look at your statements every month and CLOSELY monitor the payments being sent out. I ended up leaving the CCCS and calling the cc companies on my own. I asked for the "re-aging " department, told them the story and they worked with me. No fees to the CCCS agency and I made sure the debt was paid. Unfortunately, I was very young and things came up; didn't finish paying all of them. So, after 20+ years I finally got the last of them "charged off" and my credit score started to rise. But here I sit again, this time with my husband in tow for a BK. I can honestly say that we've learned our lesson and are ready to start fresh.
Getting back to the debt relief, it's good for some & not for others so...Good Luck to you!!

[woeisme]

Glad it's working for you. I tried CCCS, did it for 3 years, was on such a strict payment schedule that was way more than I could afford that I ended up cashing out retirement savings with all their associated penalities to try to make it work, when those funds ran out, I had to drop out of the program, and had almost as much debt as when I started, just no retirement money. Now here I am in a CH 13, where despite all the horror stories about trustees, I was able to get a real workable budget and have even been saving a few hundred a month since I started (sept 07). Of course my debt was much higher than 22K, so is part of reason that it failed for me. If you can pay it all back through CCCS, that's great, but with 90K in credit and medical bills, just not an option for me.