“Dear Steve,
My wife and I have accumulated too much credit card debt ($100,000). We have a home where unfortunately there is no equity available.
Our income has decreased slightly over the last couple of years and are depleting our savings trying to stay current with the banks/credit card companies. Today we are current with all our bills, but that may quickly change if we don’t do something fast.
We are looking at debt resolution as a possible solution, but are afraid it is a scam and will do more harm than good. Can you provide any insight as it relates to debt resolution, the viability and any other options that we may be able to explore or any companies, or lawyers that may be of assistance.
Alan”
Dear Alan,
It sounds like my article The Honest and Unvarnished Truth About How to Get Out of Debt was written with you in mind.
Draining the savings is not a solution. It’s like protecting yourself from an oncoming train by wearing a Band-Aid. We need to focus on real solutions. That means we need to look at getting your life to fit inside your income and some form of intervention. That might be bankruptcy to eliminate the debt, credit counseling to reduce your interest rates or debt settlement to try to payoff what you owe for less.
All solutions have both a positive and negative side. When getting out of debt without a debt consolidation loan there is truly a pain/gain balance that exists. The key is to match the right solution with the situation.
If you were a close friends and sitting here I’ve first send you off to do some homework. I would suggest you talk to companies that are a member of the AACC and I’d talk to at least one credit counseling company and a debt settlement company.
Next, before you commit to doing anything I think you should also meet with a bankruptcy attorney. Even if your gut reaction is that bankruptcy is not for you, you owe it to yourself to examine the option and get informed. Once you are informed you can make an educated decision about how to proceed.
Once you do all that, come back and update me in the comments. I’ll help you to figure out what the next step is from there.
You can click here to find a local bankruptcy attorney and if you’d like a second opinion about your situation or a personal consultation by another debt coach, please feel free to contact
You are not alone. I'm here to help. There is no need to suffer in silence. We can get through this. Tomorrow can be better than today. Don't give up.
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