Sea of Debt - Credit Card Debt Consolidation

Credit Card Debt Consolidation Can Teach You How To Stay Out Of Debt's Whirlpool.

Once there was a mackerel named Mary. Mary loved shopping. She'd hit the underwater malls for jewelry made of coral and pearls, seaweed purses and occasionally, she would splurge on a lobster dinner (hey, a fish has to eat!). Mary knew she had a bad habit, and she dreaded the fall when she had to go back to the School of Fish because she would have less time to work, and therefore, less money for shopping.

When she did go back to school, Mary got a credit card. She wasn't working as much, so she couldn't shop as much, but when the time came that she actually did have time to shop, she decided to use her credit card. She spent a little more than she intended to, but she had a high limit on her card, so she thought it didn't matter. Even better, when she got the bill, she only had to pay $10!! Then her favorite stores started offering her discounts if she opened store credit cards. "What a deal!" she thought.

Well, before you know it, Mary the Mackerel was swimming to school in a Sea of Debt, and her credit card minimums were more than she could afford to pay on her meager salary at the Hook, Line and Sinker. She needed help, so she asked her boss, Dolphin Don, for advice. Don told her she might need credit card debt consolidation, but she didn't know much about that. Credit card debt consolidation wasn't something they taught her at school. However, she did learn how to surf--both in the water and on the Internet--so she did a search on credit card debt consolidation and found an ocean of options. She couldn't get a debt consolidation mortgage because she didn't own a home. She saw something about student loan debt consolidation. Even though she knew that wouldn't help her now, she thought she would need it after graduation. After a lot of research, she thought her best bet was credit card debt consolidation.

Her next task was finding a credit card debt consolidation company that wasn't too fishy. Not that there was anything wrong with that--she was a fish herself, but she was more concerned about running into loan sharks. But Don told her that since credit card debt consolidation was not a loan, she wouldn't have to worry about that. She learned that with credit card debt consolidation, all of her credit card bills are consolidated into one payment that she would make to a debt consolidation company each month. They would then distribute her monthly payment among her creditors. In all of her research, Mary learned about credit card interest and even fees for things like making your payment late! Yikes! That had happened to Mary once or twice....Anyway, she also learned that a debt consolidation company will work with creditors to get a lower interest rate and a different payment schedule, and in some cases, they can even get past junk fees (like late fees) eliminated.

Mary signed up with a good company, and she was excited to learn that she would be debt free in about five years instead of the 18-20 it would have taken her otherwise. The debt counselor she talked to knew she was excited, but she was worried about one thing. "Mary, I don't want to burst your bubble, but you will need to stop using these credit cards."

"That's okay," Mary said. "I think I've bought everything I'll need for the rest of my life! Well, until I graduate, anyway." Then she had a sinking feeling. "What will I do when I get my first apartment and I will need furniture and dishes and linens and things?" The debt counselor assured her that she would teach her budgeting skills and how to use credit wisely. She might not get everything she wants all at once, but living without is much better than living with debt again.