Originally published January 24 2005
There are ways to control credit card debt now and avoid problems down the road
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
With credit card debt soaring across the country, it is becoming more and more important for people to control their credit card debt now. By either not using credit cards until your debts are paid, watching where you spend money, and always paying your bill on time, you can reduce the extra fees you pay every month. However, if your debt is particularly high, you can use a credit consolidator to help you get out from under your credit cards.
When Stephanie Snyder, a 1996 graduate of Hollidaysburg Area Senior High School, began college at Shippensburg University, she had no money.
However, the student union building of her new school was packed full of credit card companies offering on-the-spot rewards to students who applied for a credit card.
More than eight years later, Snyder's biggest financial burden is her credit card debt.
In 2000, the Consumer Federation of America calculated that 60 million households carried an average credit card balance of $7,000, for a total national credit card debt topping $455 billion.
Caryn Bilotta, the director of education and marketing at Consumer Credit Counseling Services in Pittsburgh, says her company is a nonprofit credit counseling agency whose goal is to get people out of debt.
Or, they may just have a lot of unnecessary expenses and their income needs to be redirected."
However, if a person has credit card debt on a number of cards and needs help making the payments, Consumer Credit Counseling offers a program that will combine debts so the client pays only one fee to the agency.
Bilotta says the NFCC restricts credit counseling services from creating a debt management program for their clients that exceeds five years.
To start the budget program, a $45 fee is charged for clients and an extra $5 to $35 charge is added to the monthly payment, depending on the client's debt.
Bilotta says their busiest times of the year are mid-January to mid-March from the holiday season and mid-September to mid-November from the back-to-school expenses.
Skeptical about paying extra fees for a credit counseling service, Snyder, now a resident of Harrisburg, has decided to work on her financial situation on her own.
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