What is a good, reputable debt consolidation company?

I am thinking about doing debt consolidation, but am confused by all the different companies out there. I have heard that there are a lot of shady companies. Does anyone have some helpful advice. My debt is not a huge amount ($6000), but I am tired of paying and paying on them and never seeing a difference on the balances.

What is a good, reputable debt consolidation company?
I would suggest not going through a debt consolidation company because there are many bad ones out there. Plus borrowing money to pay off your loans to get one payment is like "Borrowing from Peter to pay Paul" as my grandparents told me once. If you do a search on the internet, many of the loan consolidation companies are listed on Rip Off Reports website.





Here is some advice to do this on your own. With only $6,000 in debt, you should be able to do this fairly quick. Others are using the same method with over $100,000 in debt. It works.





First thing of course would be to cut up the credit cards and make a commitment to never charge again. Then follow the following plan.





Make a list all your debts by amount you owe from smallest to largest. Then begin by paying the "most" amount you can each month to the smallest debt with the idea of paying it off quick. Then, only pay the minimum payment on the larger debts. Continue doing this every month until you have the smallest one paid off. Everytime you pay off a debt, call the company and tell them to close the account ... that you paid off the debt and that you do not want to leave the account open. They will try to talk you into leaving the account open. Don't do this as it is too convenient and you will be tempted and will sink into debt again. You then start paying the most you can on the next smallest debt in line and go on from there until you have each paid off. Every time you get any extra money, whether it be $5, $10 or more, apply it against your debt even if you have already sent in a payment. You can send in payments more than once a month. Don't go out to eat. It's "beans and rice, rice and beans" as Dave Ramsey always says which just means (cheap meals that you can fix at home). LOL Also do things to make money like garage sales, sell on eBay, get a second job, anything to help you get money to apply toward that debt. It's not about obtaining the best credit score, it's about eliminating the debt.





You can get more help on how to accomplish this by reading and listening to Dave Ramsey. He has a talk show which you can hear on line through his archives, or live on line, or by radio by entering your zip code and find out what time of day his show airs. Plus there is a lot of reading material on his site to get you started. In addition, he has forums from his site to get help and advice from other people who are in debt. Dave has been there (with debt) and knows what it is like and is now helping people to get out of it. There are people that have followed this method with over $100,000 in debt and have gotten it paid off without going through bankruptcy and without getting some debt help company to do it for them. Dave's website link is below. I would also consider getting his book if you can. I gave mine away a few days ago to someone else on Yahoo Answers who is trying to do the same thing. It is worth the money and not that much, but you can obtain much information just by reading his site, going into his forums (there is a free trial offer) and listening to him on air.





I hope this information helps you and you get the relief you need. Best of wishes to you.





http://www.daveramsey.com
Reply:You can visit http://www.cashguru.info and find very useful tips and several articles on debt consolidation. Report Abuse

Reply:Get valuable tips on debt consolidation from http://moneymentor.cashmatter.... . It's a very useful website. Report Abuse

Reply:Have you tried going to your bank/credit union? Or you can try Citibank Financial. Its all going to depend on how your credit rates with the loan companies.
Reply:There are reputable companies and there are some sharks. Debt consolidation is a last resort. The debt won't go away but it will help smooth out the repayment.





Many people use debt consolidation as an excuse to keep spending and two years later they are deeper in debt. Please don't do this!





The way to find a reputable company is to do your own research. You could ask your bank whether they will help. If they won't, ask them if they can recommend a company.





You can find good companies online. Have a look at this website because there are a lot of options there.





Good luck!
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http://credit-cards.ebookorama.com


http://finance.ebookorama.com


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if you get any luck please don't forget about me, hope it helped you.
Reply:There are always good, bad and in between. Two articles in my resource box might give you some ideas about how to choose the right company. Hopefully it helps. Good luck!
Reply:Beware of the credit counseling companies, when they report on your debt on your credit report that is just as bad as if you filed for a BK. I know because I have been in the loan business for 12 years, those companies are not good to show on your credit report. Please avoid at all cost. $6000.00 is not a great deal of money, so just make a payment budget, send it to your creditors and negotiate a payback plan. You can do that yourself. Also negotiate how it would appear on your credit and get all of this in writing on there letterhead. Also try lexingtonlaw.com for credit repair, they have helped me, tell them 196537 sent you! :)
Reply:If you are having to borrow the money to make the payments each month, you may be over-commited and approaching bad debt.





The UK has several debt management charities who will try to help you work out where you stand and what your best course of action is. A commonly used charity in the UK is the Consumer Credit Counciling Service. There may be a similar group in your part of the world.





The US has a similar "not for profit" group called American Consumer Credit Counselling. You can read more about them at http://www.consumercredit.com/about.htm.... - other such organisations exist.





If you can afford the payments each month and you just need to pay less interest, shop around. There are many websites that compare interest rates for you.





Be careful not to take insurance you don't need. Read any policy documents carefully to be sure they match your needs. Consider getting a quote with and without insurance as this may increase the total amount you repay significantly, up to 30% in some cases.





Hope that helps,


froggie