When people get into financial trouble by living on their credit cards, failing to make credit card payments on time or hide credit card bills from their spouse or significant other, they need to seek help.
Generally this help is needed at a time where there isn’t any money left over for additional expenses. Some people seek debt settlement companies. They can negotiate and reduce amounts owed, but they also get into trouble by advising you to stop paying your bills.
Where can you turn to get help from a non-profit organization? The AAA Fair Credit Foundation, founded by Preston Cochrane of Salt Lake City, Utah provides personal financial credit counseling at no charge. They give people help with budgeting and showing them the options they have to improve their lives. They have helped thousands of people learn to live debt free when they practice what the credit counselors advise them to do.
One of their counselors, Tiffany Wagner, was interviewed and gave some good insight into the financial problems many people have and how they overcome them. Read the results of the interview below.
Why Do People Seek Credit Counselors?
Sixty to seventy percent of the people who come in have dug themselves into a hole they feel they can’t crawl out of. Most people come to see a credit counselor because they don’t budget carefully and they live beyond their means. They don’t know how to manage their money properly. Many people make a decent amount of money or they make enough to live within their means. Their problem is generally a lack of budgeting.
People get into trouble when they think they don’t have enough money and then they start to live off their credit cards. They haven’t taken a critical look at their budget to see where they could save money. They haven’t identified the expenditures they could live without.
Economic factors like losing a job brings people in. Construction workers seem to be especially hit hard with the lack of building and remodeling going on.
What Are Considered ‘Worst Financial Habits’?
Some people bring in their unopened bills hoping to get help in organization and finding out where they are financially. Some of these bills have been unopened for six months. The consequences of not paying attention to your bills are astounding. Ignoring bills might seem like the most comfortable option but it is never a good strategy for building wealth.
What Are Your Best Personal Finance Tips?
The best thing we do is to give people a budgeting plan to get themselves out of debt. Their success really depends on the person and how motivated they are to get out of debt. A lot of people are not willing to give up their life style and cut back on expenses. If they aren’t willing to give up something, whatever it may be for that individual client, then there is not a lot we can do to help them.
When you go to a doctor and get a cancer diagnosis are you going to do anything about it? Will you seek treatment? Will you change the way you live? What will you do? Financial problems aren’t typically a life or death situation, but there are some similarities. The solution requires you to act and make changes. Your success depends on what you are willing to do to get yourself out of the situation. A lot of people are not willing to give up anything. If you don’t act on getting your budget within your means, the hole you are digging will get deeper and deeper.
How Many People Take Credit Counseling Advice?
About one out of five people actually do something with the information they are given. They are the people that make credit counseling rewarding. They are the ones who say, I wish I had known about you six months ago.
Where Can I Find A Credit Counselor?
AAA Fair Credit Foundation offers services in forty-four out of 50 states. You can go to their website to find a counselor near you.
The benefits of seeking help can give you a feeling of personal relief and improved family life, by reducing the tension and stress of debt problems. Do something about your problems today.
