Credit Counselors

[SageMother]

Do credit counseling services help at all? I have heard stories of people being worse of per month after going to the credit counselor due to the fees they charge .

What services does a credit counselor provide? How many of those things can you do yourself?

[Calypso]

If I were you, I'd look for a credit counselor through a social services agency. If you live in the US, find one approved by the federal government to provide counseling prior to (or hopefully instead of) bankruptcy. They won't charge steep fees--many of them won't charge any fees--but they will take a look at your bills and help you figure things out.

Any credit counselor who charges a lot of money probably isn't legit. They'll put together a "payment plan" with your creditors so you send one check to the credit counselor each month and s/he presumably pays off your debts. The problem is the crooked credit counselor usually just keeps the money, so you end up deeper in debt and in worse trouble than you were before you got credit counseling.