The key to succeed in any debt relief effort is to come up with a plan that will serve as your guide towards debt freedom. Anyone who is gearing up to deal with their debt problems should anticipate a lot of temptations along the way. You will find a lot of instances that will tempt you to use your debt payments for something other than your debt. These should all be avoided so you can get out of debt as soon as possible.

One of the best plans that you can use is a debt management plan or a DMP. This is a required plan during a debt management program. A debt counselor will be assigned to you to help create it. They will help you implement it too. However, if you want to skip the fees associated with this debt solution, creating your own DMP may prove to help you make your DIY debt relief program possible.

So what can be found in a debt management plan?

First of all, it lists all of your debts. When you work with a professional, you can only include your credit cards, personal loans, and other unsecured debts. Since you are doing this on your own, you can probably include other secured debts in it like your car and home loans. The important thing is to list down all the debts that you want to monitor payments. That is what the DMP will help you accomplish. It will help you manage your debt. When you list your debts, highlight important details like the debt balance, minimum payments and the due date.

After you have accomplished this, determine the amount that is left of your income after your basic living expenses had been paid for. What you have to realize is when you go through this path, you need to have adequate income to support your debt payments. That means there is extra money left after all your basic necessities are paid for. If you do not have this, you may have a hard time with this debt solution. If your income after living expenses are a little short, then you can look at your expenses to see where you can save some more. Or your can grow your income to meet your debt payments. If none of it works, you could be better off with other programs that will aim debt reduction rather than a simple debt management plan.

Another thing that you can do is to negotiate with your creditors. This negotiation is usually only for unsecured debts. Negotiate with them to accept a lower monthly payment in exchange for a longer term. This is best done in writing so you can document all communication efforts with the creditor. Ask them to freeze your account if they have to. Show them the DMP that you created for the debt that you owe them. Start with your credit card debts and then your personal loans until you reach an adequate amount that your income can afford.

The main factor that will make your DMP successful is how you stick with it. If you succeed in lowering your monthly payment with certain creditors, you need to ensure that it will be followed strictly. Otherwise, they may go back to the usual amount that you are required to pay off. That will mess up your budget for the rest of your debts.

If you like the idea of consolidating your debts, you have two options that can serve as your debt relief method. They have differences and similarities and it is important for you to know them so that you can make a smart decision as to how you will solve your debt problems.

Let us discuss them one by one.

Debt consolidation loans is a type of debt relief that uses a big loan amount to pay off everything else that you owe. If you have three card debts worth $2,500 (debt A), $5,000 (debt B) and $10,000 (debt C), you will need at least a $17,500 loan to pay them off. If the $17,500 is approved, you will use it to completely settle debt A-C. That will consolidate your debt amount into the new loan that you just made. With the debt being stretched over 5 years, you can expect a lower monthly payment.

Ideally, you should compute the average interest rate of your other debts. Whatever you have computed will be your ceiling in terms of the interest rate on your new debt. Do not get a loan that will ask you to pay a higher interest than your current average. Usually, the low interest can be achieved by having either one of these: a good credit score or a collateral. Both of these will show that you are a low risk borrower and thus will prompt the lender to give you a low interest rate.

The other type of debt consolidation is known as debt management. Unlike the previous option, this requires the aid of a debt or credit counselor. When you enroll your debts with a credit counseling agency, you will be assigned one and they will look at your finances to see how you can make your debt payments. The counseling part is free. But if you want to take the service further to debt management, you will be asked to pay a fee that is no more than $50 a month. If you have fewer debts, you will pay less in terms of the service fee.

You will begin by creating a debt management plan (DMP) that will serve as your guide throughout the program. This will be custom made to suit your financial capabilities. The counselor will stretch your payments over a longer payment period so you can make lower monthly contributions towards your debts. They will negotiate with your creditor to approve this payment plan and they will guide you until its completion - or at least until you decide to pull out from the program, which is not really advised. Once the creditor accepts the DMP, you will make single payment contributions to the counselor who will distribute the funds to the respective creditors. They will also try to negotiate with the creditor to lower your interest rate - but this usually happens once you are already updated on your payments.

Both of these options, debt consolidation loans and debt management, will require you to have a steady income. Despite a lower monthly payment, there will be no debt reduction on your current balance. The longer terms will see to it that you will be required lower dues.

When choosing between the two, look at the requirement list and see which among the two you can meet. For instance if you have a bad credit score and if you do not have a collateral or you do not want to put it on the line, then debt management is your best option.

Another consideration is the methods. In debt management, all the accounts enrolled in the program cannot be used - this will not happen in debt consolidation loans.

Credit counseling is a type of debt relief program that involves education and instruction. Sometimes known as debt counseling, this solution seeks to assist the debtor by helping them understand their current financial situation. Among the lessons to be learned is why they got in this situation, how to get out of it and how to ensure that they will never get in the same situation again.

The whole concept of this debt solution is logical. Some people opt to go for more than just counseling. They enrol themselves in debt management programs wherein the counselor who analyzed their finances provide further services that include creditor negotiation (usually for a longer payment term and a lower interest rate) and debt management. With this option, you get to work with a payment scheme that allows you to make only one payment and the counselor takes charge of distributing that payment to your different creditors.

But even though the concept is logical, this type of debt relief option has a very low success rate. Most of the people enrolling end up quitting or not completing the program that they started.

In essence, this is the safest debt relief option for anyone who wishes to get out of debt without service fees or extensive damage to their credit score. So why is it failing?

First of all, people who enter this program has the wrong assumption about it. Despite all the services and assistance provided, you need to understand that there is not be a reduction on your debt balance - not like in debt settlement. What the debt counselor will do is to negotiate the monthly dues you have to pay for will be lower than before. The lowered interest rate is also not a guarantee. In most cases, the creditor agrees to the appeal from the counselor to lower the rate, but in some, they do not. The lower monthly payments are brought about by the fact that your current balance is stretched over a longer term.

Another problem encountered is related to the debtor’s qualifications. This type of debt solution requires a steady and stable income to support the new payment plan that the counselor will help you create. If you do not have this, you may end up failing to comply. Relative to that, anyone with a high debt to income may find it hard to stick to payments. If you have a high ratio, best to go for debt relief options that will focus on debt reduction.

Lastly, people fail at credit counseling because they cannot commit to the program. This can be influenced by the two reasons previously mentioned but more than that, it involves a personal choice to make sacrifices to ensure debt relief success. Regardless of what you choose as a debt relief option, make sure that you are ready to face all the sacrifices necessary to pay off your credit obligations. Without it, you will find it hard to discipline yourself.

Approach this program with the right expectations, qualifications and attitude so you can guarantee success. Provide the counselor with the right financial data so the payment plan that you will create will be based on what you can afford - and not what you aspire to afford as debt payments.

When you have more than one debt, one of the things that you want to happen is to keep your payments simple. But with all the different accounts, due dates, interest rates and balances, monitoring all your debts can be quite a vexing task. If you fail to monitor your debts correctly, you may end up being charged with late penalty fees and other finance charges. Especially with credit card debt, this can easily accumulate into significant amount that can leave you in worse shape than you have ever been.

To avoid this scenario, you may want to consider using debt consolidation as your primary solution to get out of your credit problems. There are two ways to consolidate your debts. One is through debt consolidation loans and the other is through debt management.

In the former, a debtor applies for a big loan with an amount that can cover all or most of their debts. If this is your choice, you will pay off the other debts so you can pool in your funds to pay for this bigger loan.

In debt management, you will work with a debt or credit counselor who will help you create a DMP or debt management plan. This will be your roadmap as you try to eliminate your debts. These counselors will also negotiate with creditors on your behalf. The whole negotiation will be based on the DMP created. The whole idea is to get the creditors to accept this new payment plan. The consolidation happens because the counselor will take over distributing the payments to various creditors. You will send the payment to them and they in turn will make sure that it is transferred to the creditors account on or before the due date.

Both of these will help the debtor successfully consolidate their debt payments into one manageable account. This is an advantage because the effort that you put into monitoring all your credit accounts can be used to fuel your attempts to grow your debt payment fund. Incidentally, you will need a steady income for both of these options so that particular fund will have a source to grow from.

These two will also ensure a lower monthly payment. Debt consolidation loans are usually stretched over 5 years. The same is true for a debt management plan. These two will allow you to have extra money to take care of other needs that you may have. This can help relieve the otherwise discouraging effects of being in debt.

The difference about both is that loans will not require the aid of a professional. In debt management, the presence of a debt counselor is somewhat necessary.

Another difference is there are more requirements when it comes to loans. You need a good credit score or a collateral so you can receive a good deal out of the loan that you will take. Otherwise, you could be given a high interest rate on your loan. If this rate is higher than the average of your current debts, then it wouldn’t have been an improvement from your previous det condition. These requirements are not really needed in debt management.

Both of these options will allow you to pay off your debts but you need to consider the differences carefully. Each of them work on specific types of debt - for instance, mortgages can be included among the debts that you will pay for with debt consolidation loans. Most if the time, debt management only deals with unsecured debts.

As you make a choice, consider your finances carefully so you are assured that you will opt for the right debt relief program.

Credit counseling is a type of debt relief program that involves education and instruction. Sometimes known as debt counseling, this solution seeks to assist the debtor by helping them understand their current financial situation. Among the lessons to be learned is why they got in this situation, how to get out of it and how to ensure that they will never get in the same situation again.

The whole concept of this debt solution is logical. Some people opt to go for more than just counseling. They enrol themselves in debt management programs wherein the counselor who analyzed their finances provide further services that include creditor negotiation (usually for a longer payment term and a lower interest rate) and debt management. With this option, you get to work with a payment scheme that allows you to make only one payment and the counselor takes charge of distributing that payment to your different creditors.

But even though the concept is logical, this type of debt relief option has a very low success rate. Most of the people enrolling end up quitting or not completing the program that they started.

In essence, this is the safest debt relief option for anyone who wishes to get out of debt without service fees or extensive damage to their credit score. So why is it failing?

First of all, people who enter this program has the wrong assumption about it. Despite all the services and assistance provided, you need to understand that there is not be a reduction on your debt balance - not like in debt settlement. What the debt counselor will do is to negotiate the monthly dues you have to pay for will be lower than before. The lowered interest rate is also not a guarantee. In most cases, the creditor agrees to the appeal from the counselor to lower the rate, but in some, they do not. The lower monthly payments are brought about by the fact that your current balance is stretched over a longer term.

Another problem encountered is related to the debtor’s qualifications. This type of debt solution requires a steady and stable income to support the new payment plan that the counselor will help you create. If you do not have this, you may end up failing to comply. Relative to that, anyone with a high debt to income may find it hard to stick to payments. If you have a high ratio, best to go for debt relief options that will focus on debt reduction.

Lastly, people fail at credit counseling because they cannot commit to the program. This can be influenced by the two reasons previously mentioned but more than that, it involves a personal choice to make sacrifices to ensure debt relief success. Regardless of what you choose as a debt relief option, make sure that you are ready to face all the sacrifices necessary to pay off your credit obligations. Without it, you will find it hard to discipline yourself.

Approach this program with the right expectations, qualifications and attitude so you can guarantee success. Provide the counselor with the right financial data so the payment plan that you will create will be based on what you can afford - and not what you aspire to afford as debt payments.

Before you can actually choose the type of debt relief that you will use for your credit problems, it is a wise move to know what you can afford to pay first. While financial analysis is not always a requirement, it should be practiced nevertheless at the beginning of any debt relief effort. You have to start taking charge of your finances not just to grow your debt payment fund but also to make sure you stay out of it.

As you make a personal financial analysis prior to debt relief, there are only three categories that you can fall into.

Financial Capability 1: With enough money to spend on basic necessities and debt payments.
This is probably the luckiest among the three categories. This means the financial capability of the debtor is big enough to cover their daily needs plus the minimum payments of their various credit accounts. While it is fortunate that your income is enough to cover all your financial obligations, you will not be qualified for any debt reduction. You are technically not in a financial crisis even though your debts have spiraled out of proportion. In this case, your debt relief choice is debt consolidation.

You can actually try to pay off your debts using the traditional way. This will ensure that your credit score will not suffer as you get out of debt. But if you still want to opt for either of the two types of debt consolidation, debt management or debt consolidation loans, then you may be qualified to do so. In both cases, the debtor will benefit from lower monthly dues because their payment term will be stretched over a longer period. While this has a negative impact on the credit score, it will only be minimal and it will improve as soon as the debtor starts paying off their debt.

Financial Capability 2: With money for basic necessities but not enough for debt payments.
In the next category, the scenario is not as good as the first. In this case, the debtor does have enough to cover their basic necessities but lacks funds for debt payments. In most cases, people under this category has a steady income but unfortunately, it is not enough to cover for everything that they need.

If the deficit for debt payments is only minimal, the debtor can try to increase their income or lower their expenses so be able to afford the options provided in the previous scenario. But if the needed funds are too big, the option for debt relief is debt settlement. Under this program, the debtor will negotiate with the creditor for a settlement amount that is lower than the balance of the debt. If they agree, the debtor will pay for that amount and the rest of the debt is forgiven. The drawback for this is the negative impact on the credit score and the tax implications on the forgiven amount. However, the savings can be significant so a lot of people proceed despite the consequences.

Financial Capability 3: With barely enough to pay for basic necessities and no funds for debt payments.
This is the worst scenario for anyone. In most cases, people under this category have low paying jobs or even none at all. This type of financial situation means they are living on a tight budget and they has to make changes in their lifestyle just to survive. Usually, there is nothing left to pay for credit obligations.

The only debt relief option for this situation is bankruptcy. The debtor will have to go through a means test that will determine if they are eligible for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13. In the former, their debts are totally discharged - but only after valuable assets have been liquidated. In the latter, they are subjected to a low repayment plan which when completed, will prompt the discharge of any balance on their credit. This is probably the worst option for anyone because of the severe impact on the credit score.

Consider carefully where your current finances belong to before you decide on a debt relief program. That way, you can choose the best option that your finances can handle.

There is nothing wrong with you being in debt - at least if you have made the decision to get out of it. Although it may be embarrassing to admit, especially to your loved ones, you have to let them in on the secret. That is the only way you can get help to overcome your credit problems.

Almost all households in this country went through a form of credit crisis at one point. There are still a lot of people struggling to pay off credit obligations and there are those who are already enjoying financial freedom.

If you are still debt (you probably are if you landed on this article), then you need to get help fast. While there are consumers who are able to go through debt relief on their own, not everyone has the discipline and the willpower to see it through. This is the reason why most consumers opt to hire professionals to help out.

There are various ways to get debt relief and one of the most prominent is debt counseling. This is one type of credit counseling wherein you hire a debt expert that will help you understand your unique debt and financial situation.

Also known as debt management, debt counseling focuses on helping those with credit issues by assisting them in creating a payment plan. Not only that, they can also negotiate with your creditors so that your loan term can be spread out - thus making your monthly payments smaller. Most of them will also negotiate for a lower interest rate to further reduce your debts. They can even ask your creditors to waive off certain fees.

Finding this service is quite easy. The challenge is finding a legitimate company that will sincerely help you. Sometimes, knowing what the company can offer will tell you if they are legit or not. Debt counseling should not just offer debt relief. Of course, the main attraction is to help the consumer get out of debt but more than that, they should be able to teach their clients how to stay out of it. That means their service should include budget and financial planning on top of debt counseling.

Try to stay away from those who advertise that they can lower your interest rate or payments. While they will surely try, this is never a guarantee so they are in danger of making false promises - which is in violation of the TSR or Telemarketing Sales Rule.

Another way to spot the legit companies is by looking at their fees. Most debt counseling companies are non profit but a lot of them ask for minimal service fees in exchange for the service of helping you with your debt. This is regulated to be around $50 a month only. If the company you are currently talking to is expensive and also charges upfront fees, you need to walk away from them because the chances that they are a scam is very high.

It helps to begin your search with a reputable organization. You can look at the members of the NFCC or National Foundation for Credit Counseling. The AICCCA or Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies is also another portal to find legitimate companies offering debt counseling. Both of these organizations require specific standards for their members.

Always do a background check and read through reviews. Trust your instincts before putting your credit problems into the hands of another. There are a lot of debt relief companies and you should not worry that you will run out of them.