Free debt advice is not so far to come by after all: For example, don’t pay for things you can get for free! It’s a sad commentary on human nature, but the fact is, a lot of opportunists like to kick people when they’re down. Many “credit counseling” agencies are money-making schemes designed to attract people who are already struggling financially and take advantage of them further.
"Try not to become a man of success
but rather to become a man of value.”
- Albert Einstein |
It makes sense when you think about it: Many people who need credit counseling are bad with money, and hence are liable to waste it on something they don’t need -- like credit counseling. If you’re looking for free debt advice, be careful. So much of what’s out there isn’t “free” at all. The good news is that there are legitimate credit counseling organizations, and one of the hallmarks of an honest one is that they’ll give you free debt advice. At www.debtadvice.org, for example, you’ll find the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. This group will help you find a good credit counselor in your area, and it offers many tips on how to tell the legitimate ones from the hucksters. Basic information should never cost you anything. You also shouldn’t work with an organization that pays its credit counselors on commission. Here’s some more free debt advice: Don’t pay for anything you don’t actually need. Even a legitimate credit counselor can’t usually do anything that you couldn’t do yourself. You can research financial strategies and personal budget plans on your own and come up with a plan to eliminate your debts. What a credit counselor might be able to help you with is offering insights that you hadn’t thought of before, or giving little tips or guidelines that might not have occurred to you. Once you find a legitimate counselor, it doesn’t hurt to have a free consultation and see what guidance they can give you. Before you go looking for free debt advice, sit down and look at your finances carefully. Make a list of your monthly expenses, including credit card payments. Trim your expenses where possible, and see where that gets you. Look at your lowest-balance credit card. Could you pay it off in a few months if you, say, didn’t eat out for a while? Or if you temporarily canceled your gym membership, how quickly could you knock off a debt or two? In other words, are there things you can do on your own to eliminate your debts, one by one, or do you truly need professional help? Either way, the point is that you must take control of your finances and your future. Whether you do it on your own or whether you employ the help of credit counselors, the important thing is that you do it.
"The only point in making money is,
you can tell some big shot where to go."
- Humphrey Bogart |
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Debt is NOT your friend. It's not a wonderful "tool" for building wealth. That's a myth.
