debt consolidation companies-debt management programs

Debt consolidation companies help millions of Americans with their financial planning and budgeting. An average household has 11 credit cards and the debt consolidation companies or the debt management programs help you to consolidate your credit card bills to one monthly payment. How you are using your credit cards will determine whether it makes sense to consolidate the balances. Cutting back on the number of credit cards could be accomplished by using a bank card such as MasterCard, Visa or American Express to eliminate gas or department store cards.

Ultimately most people really need only two or three multipurpose credit cards. To consolidate your balances onto fewer cards, most debt management programs recommend the following:

A. Pay off any low-balance cards you will not be keeping, and then close the accounts.

B. Transfer the remaining balances to the card with the best interest rates. Don’t use this card until it’s paid off. This will avoid additional interest charges on revolving purchases. Once the balance is paid, close the account.

C. Choose the two or three cards you are going to keep, and be sure they have limits high enough to cover your monthly charges. Be sure to pay these off in full each month, and close the others.

D. If you can’t do any of the following, you should consider enrolling a debt management program, or any debt consolidation companies. These credit counseling companies will help you in reducing your interest rates to 6-9%, eliminate finance charges and late fees, consolidate all your credit card bills to a single monthly payment, and will therefore help you in saving 40-60% of your debt.

Chose any of the four options before you have no choice but to pick the worse option of all, i.e. bankruptcy. According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, 302,829 people file for bankruptcy in the first quarter of 2000. Don’t be one of the 302,829 people. Act now and start a debt free life.