- Managing Your
Debts: How to Regain Financial Health
-
- BY VISA U.S.A.
& THE CONSUMER FEDERATION OF AMERICA
Use your savings
and other assets to pay down debts. Withdrawing savings from
low-interest accounts to settle high-rate loans usually makes
sense. Selling off a second car not only provides cash but also
reduces insurance and other maintenance expenses.
Look for additional
resources from governmental and private sources for which you
may be eligible. Government assistance includes unemployment
compensation. Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC),
food stamps, low-income energy assistance, Medicaid, and Social
Security including disability.
Other resources
may be available from churches and community groups. Often these
sources are listed in the Yellow Pages of your phone book.
Looking closely
at our options helped us realize that we still needed to try
self-budgeting before taking more extreme measures. We think
that perhaps we were giving up too soon.
WHAT OTHERS
CAN DO FOR YOU
Credit Counseling.
If you are unable to make satisfactory arrangements with your
creditors, there are organizations that can help. An organization
that you can call is a Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS)
agency. These local, non-profit organizations affiliated with
the National Foundation for Consumer Credit (NFCC) provide education
and counseling to families and individuals.
For consumers
who want individual help, CCCS counselors with professional backgrounds
in money management and counseling can provide support.
To promote
high standards, the NFCC has developed a certification program
for these counselors.
A counselor
will work with you to develop a budget to maintain your basic
living expenses and outline options for addressing your total
financial situation.
If creditors
are pressing you, a CCCS counselor can also negotiate with these
creditors to repay your debts through a financial management
plan. Under this plan, creditors often agree to reduce payments,
lower or drop interest and finance charges, and waive late fees
and over-the-limit fees.
After starting
the plan, you will deposit money with CCCS each month to cover
these new negotiated payment amounts. Then CCCS will distribute
this money to your creditors to repay your debts. With more than
1,100 locations nationwide, CCCS agencies are available to nearly
all consumers. Supported mainly by contributions from community
organizations, financial institutions, and merchants, CCCS provides
services free or at a low cost to individuals seeking help.
To contact
a CCCS office for confidential help, look in your telephone directory
white pages, or call 1 (800) 388-2227, 24 hours a day, for an
office near you. next page >
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