by Edwin Ivanauskas | Tags: Personal Finance, Banking

We all have some type of debt and it is ultimately left up to us to take care of it. No matter who you get help from, the burden ultimately will fall on you. As a consumer we tend to spend thousands of dollars on materialistic goods that we really don't even need. None the less we acquire debt. Some have been laid off with the bad economy and have had to pay mortgages and car payments with their credit cards. If you have been one of the lucky ones you may have found other work and are now trying to pay back your debt. It can be overwhelming to anyone and with your regular bills on top of your debt it will be almost impossible to make it back to the top. You have stretched your budget to its limit. Now it is time for you to do something about it.

Bankruptcy is not in your vocabulary right now. To you this may be the worst thing that you could do. Although more and more are filing, it does affect your credit long term and to some it may make you feel as if you have reached the bottom when you get to this stage.

Credit counseling may have seemed like an option to you at first but they want a start up fee and a monthly fee based on your overall credit card debt. That seems ridiculous to you considering the fact that you are trying to get out of debt, not add to it. Now they could receive anywhere from ten to fifteen percent on top of what you have in debt. How is that helping you relieve your debt? You also have a contract that you sign with them. More and more of these credit counseling companies are being reported as not paying the negotiated fee's on time and then who do the companies contact? You got it. It's you.

If you wish to consolidate your credit card debt on your own then make sure you know exactly where your credit stands with each company. Check and verify the interest rate that you have with each company and what is the total owed on the day that you are trying to negotiate with them. If they agree to eliminate your interest from that day thereafter and agree on a set monthly payment, then make sure that you can handle that payment before agreeing to it. Make sure that you get anything agreed to in writing and keep it for at least ten years after the debt is paid. If they decide that they will erase a certain amount of debt that you owe them, make sure again, that you can handle the payment that it leaves you. Remember that whatever debt that they erase or interest that they say is owed to them, it will become a business as well as tax write off with them. This will affect your credit score for the next seven years at least.

Have your list of questions ready when you call your credit card companies to negotiate your credit card debt and make sure that you can handle the payments and any type of arrangement that they make with you. It is your credit that will be affected. Never say yes automatically and don't let them make you feel intimidated. You can handle this. You can start negotiating credit card debt today.

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