Does anyone know of any ligit debt consolidation companies out there. Have about 30k of loans and credit card debt..........any info would be much appreciated, pm or post, thanks everyone!

 

I know of a credit counseling service in MA .that gets the interest rate lowered -don,t know if what I would post on here would be considered advertising .PM sent

 

I'd suggest getting a second job and just pay it off, but that could take quite a while.

 

Thats an option also and with the current ups and downs in the economy it can be difficult.
Better to nip the debt in the bud first instead of getting into trouble later and one will be better off in the long run ,
So if anyone else wants the info for this company just pm me and I will give you their tele. number .

 

I second this approach. List your debts from smallest largest. Plan to at least pay the minimum on each one. With any money left over, apply it to the smallest balance - i.e., you are paying above the minimum due on it and minimum on the rest. When that debt is paid off, roll all of that money onto the next smallest balance and do the same thing. It's referred to as the "debt snowball". Check out this website for info:

Real Debt Help - Get out of debt with Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover Plan.

 

amen to Dave Ramsey.... but here's something I was thinking about today.

Ok, so assume someone is in X amount of debt now. That X amount of debt is a certain percentage of their income/net worth/whatever you wanna call it, right? Well, everyone talks about investing in your debt. Paying it off as soon as possible, etc etc. BUT, when you look at it as a percentage of income, it can be more costly to pay it off now than it would be to accrue interest over the months/year and then paying it off when you make more money.... sure it'll probably cost more in dollars in cents, but it wont hurt as much as far as a percentage of money is concerned.

as I'm typing this, I guess it would make more sense with someone younger like myself at 21 who doesn't make that much at the moment, rather than someone who has already 'topped' out.

any thoughts?

 

What you're not factoring in is your percentage of debt also increases. It goes with that old saying "the more money you make, the more you spend". Pay it off now! Don't accumulate any more and live within your means. If you don't pay it off when you're young and able, you'll never be able to pay it off later.

 

I understand what you are saying with regards to the numbers. Something else to consider is the sense of peace that comes with no debt on your shoulders. The value of this peace will vary from person to person, but as long as someone has debt they are going to need a source of income to cover that debt.

 

Get a job in the MidEast.

One of those operations was paying co-pilots $7,000 USD a month (no income taxes there) plus they got living expenses too.

 

[quote=FDXer;484217]What you're not factoring in is your percentage of debt also increases. It goes with that old saying "the more money you make, the more you spend". Pay it off now! Don't accumulate any more and live within your means. If you don't pay it off when you're young and able, you'll never be able to pay it off later.[/quote]


Priceless wisdom right there.

I have a feeling that when this credit crunch eases, whenever that may be, people will forget how pinched they were and start rewarding themselves by driving like a bats outta hell to the mall 2 miles away for a splurge purchase or two because they proved to themselves that they "can" save their money when forced to.

"Gotta live a little right?" Sure you gotta. You also gotta pay for your health care when you're done working at age 78. Because, odds are that you'll live that long or longer.

I do hope I'm wrong, however.