Debt Reduction
I read your Mar. 16 article in the Chicago Tribune, “The dangers of debt” with great interest. Pun intended. My family has a huge debt problem and I was very excited at the end of your column to learn about an organization called the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Unfortunately, what they offered me was to consolidate my debt, close the accounts that had the debt, and make payments through them, for a fee. To me, that sounded much more like the third option in your article, and still would not help us devise an actual plan of not only tackling the debt, but finding tools and plans to not return to it.
Do you know of anyone else (we live in DeKalb) that could possibly assist us? We need tools and budget help, not someone to close our accounts and charge us for paying down our debt.
Thank you so much!
Terry Says
CCCS agencies typically do not offer this as a solution unless the debt is overwhelming. And they do facilitate payments — typically after getting card companies to lower the fees. I’d be interested to know exactly which agency you spoke to, so please respond to the email you get saying your question has been answered.
I have no other organizations that I recommend. But I do suggest going to Amazon and getting Judy Lawrence’s program — The Budget Kit (I linked the page on Amazon). I believe she also has a software program now to help you through the process if you’re disciplined.
