DH and I are in more debt than we can handle. There isn't a day that goes by that a creditor isn't calling us. It is so stressful and I am so emotionally drained from it all.

I do not want to file bankruptcy. I have looked into credit solutions.com
Has anybody done this?

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From my experience working in auto sales.. working with one of those credit assistance places reflects on your credit just as bad as a bankruptcy. One of my friends has tried to use the assistance of one place a couple of times... each time realizing that she had already negotiated her interest rates ect down lower than they would be able to help anyway.

It is a hard decision any way you slice it.

I personally filed for chapter 7.. 5.5 years ago. We were recently married, but all my debt was previous to that. To top it off I was a new SAHM and my husband had just been downsized with no new job in sight. For us it was a good decision.

Since then I have discovered Crown Financial Management. There is some free information on their website on budgeting, and there are free financial councelers in many areas. We have learned how to budget, and have almost paid off all our debt that we have occured in the last 5.5 years. Pretty much all that is left is our car payment, my student loans & our mortgage. Everything else is paid off! We are working on getting our emergency fund saved up.. and once we have 1 month saved then we will start accelerating our other payments.

Yes... your situation is hard... but it is not impossible.

Good Luck with what ever you decide!
-Sarah
p.s. feel free to pm me if you want to talk more.

we didnt use that one but we used Metropolitan Debt Solutions, Get out of debt with our bill consolidation, budget counseling, and debt management program. it was wonderful. flat monthly fee and our payments were reduced by half. it took seven years but was so worth it not declaring bankruptcy.

alot of folks will mention that it is noted on your credit report but it doesnt really matter if you are in alot of debt. so much better than bankruptcy scar too.

it didnt affect us in getting a mortgage, ONE major credit card or auto loan-the only debts we will ever take on again!

make sure they charge a fixed flat fee that is acceptable to you.

Whatever you decide to do please do not go with Credit Solutions. I decided to go with this company 5 months ago and now im in more debt because of it. They tell you to put a specific dollar amount of money away into "savings" every month and when you get enough money to make a settlement then you can make a offer. We were told to stop paying our credit card bills and let them handle everything else. It wasn't until a lawyer was harrasing my husband at work did we realize that Credit Solutions is a scam. You can make arrangements with your creditors yourself. Thats what we just did and I ended up saving $1700.00 by doing it myself. If you don't believe me go to Ripoff Report: By Consumers, For Consumers and type in Credit Solutions and see for yourself. I just wish we knew this from the beginning because im out $530.00 that they won't return to me.

My DH and I are in the same situation. I was looking at LendingTree.com. Has anyone ever used them. We have about $7000 in cc debt and we are slowly drowning. Not enough income to cover the bills anymore. Has anyone looked at LendingTree?

Is there any possible way that you can get out of the debt without help from one of those companies?

Dh and I were in a similar situation. The phone at one time in our lives was ringing 40 times a day with creditors on the line. Finally we sat down and found a way to pay everything. It took MONTHS to get ALL of them caught up. We were so behind that all of our minimum payments were from $90-$300. BUT, we did it. We scraped everything we had and gave up all extras, and got everything up to date. It takes time but I think it's better to do it this way than to have something else on your credit.

Good luck.

My DH got himself out of debt by contacting each cc and negotiating a settlement. He didn't go through a company as he too read some were scams. He was surprised each cc was so willing to work with him. I think they were happy to get anything from him since he had been sitting on them for years.

My dh went through another debt consolidation place last year. HOWEVER, if we could do it again, we never would have done it. We learned through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University that you don't need those places - you can do all of those things yourself (call creditors, discuss lowering your payments and fees, settling your debts, etc.). I TOTALLY understand that it is scary - no, that doesn't even describe it. It is terrifying, isn't it?

I would totally see if there is a Financial Peace University class in your area. You can find out by going to Real Debt Help - Get out of debt with Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Plan., finding the information about Financial Peace and seeing if there is a class starting near you. I know that I gush about this a lot on this board, but truly, this was an absolute godsend to us and literally changed our lives. He also has books that are chockful of great information.

Keep us posted on how you are doing. I think it would surprise you to learn that a LOT of us here at Mommysavers have been where you are. We are here to support you!!!

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If you need to get in touch with me, my email is teach1107910@yahoo.com.

A couple years ago my credit card companies decided to raise my interest rates and even though I tried to get them to lower the rates they wouldnt. I had not been late with any payments and was even paying a little more a month than I was supposed to. I knew that with the raised interest rate I wouldnt be able to make the payments so i went to Consumer Credit counseling and got in a debt repayment program. My interest rates went WAY DOWN (6% from like 15 %) and my cards will be paid off by next year. I am really glad that I did it. Michele

You can do this = but You have to be tough - and they will Try to make you pay more than you intend to -

Credit counselers are trained to deal with these people - They can get them off your back.

And yes it looks bad on your credit report too -
But once you can actually Think - and Get your finances in order - and NOT hear the phone ring 20 times a day - I think you are better off.


Life with bad credit isn't easy but it does get better..

Credit counseling is not some Huge black mark on your file forever.

Good luck!!