You have a few options when it comes to managing your debts in case you’ve fallen off course with your finances: You can handle it yourself or you can get help from a credit counseling services company.
You can always do it on your own. In fact, what the credit counseling services agency would do is something that you can also do yourself, and that is to negotiate your interest rates and monthly payments with your creditors. If you belong to that percentage of the population who aren’t exactly comfortable or know how to do negotiations with creditors (or the situation simply does not give you that leverage or freedom), getting help through credit counseling services would be your next best option.
Indeed, paying for credit counseling services could be better than doing this on your own if the primary reason of your debt problem is your lack of knowledge in debt management and finance control. What a credit counseling services agency could basically do is to help you on those weaknesses of yours and assist you in getting back on the right track.
The assistance that you could get from a credit counseling agency is the creation of a Debt Management Plan that will give you a clearer assessment of your debts and the necessary strategies and actions that you could do to pay them off quickly. Generally, most agencies who offer credit counseling services will act as the liaison between you and your creditors. The agency will map out a payment schedule of your debts and would be the one to get you lower interest rates. A good agency already has plans in place with your creditors to arrange lower interest rates and more comfortable monthly payments. They will also help you create plans on how you could pay off your debts quicker. You will make one monthly payment to the credit counseling agency and they will disperse that payment to your creditors on your behalf.
Aside from developing plans for your debt payment, credit counselors could also help you maintain a good financial management strategy after paying off your debts. This includes helping you prepare a budget that you could stick into. Ultimately, your credit counseling services agency will also give you workshops and lectures on how to avoid future debts, plus how to improve your present financial condition.