Believe me, I know what you are going through. I was in this situation. I had recently moved from a large metropolitan area with decent pay, to a smaller area where the cost of living was almost just as high, and had to take almost a $20K paycut. On top of that, I just had a baby and was a single-mom to boot.

I had to "live", and with a $20K cut, it didn't leave me with a choice (or so I thought) other than to not pay bills and get the things I needed (baby formula, diapers, etc.). Let me tell you, I was depressed. I didn't open my bills for months at a time. The phone would ring every morning staring from 8 am and continued until 9 pm at night. Bill collectors would call me at work and leave messages with their "800" numbers with co-workers if I wasn't there. It was so embarrassing. I went on like this for about a year before I finally decided to find that I had to do something.

I had seen ads on TV for debt consolidation and consumer credit counselor services "CCCS" offering freedom from financial worries and the opportunity to gain your life and dignity back, but for some reason, didn't take the plunge. One day I was talking with a friend and they told me how they had joined Consumer Credit Counseling Services (CCCS) and they were very relieved and financially stress free. CCCS was able to contact all of the creditors that they had credit card balances with and was able to either reduce their credit card interest to interest rates that were one digit and in some cases down to 0% interest! Consumer Credit Counseling Services was also able to eliminate most of their late fees and over the credit limit fees so that when they made payments, it went directly to their credit card balances and helped them pay it off their debt quicker.

All of this information was exciting and sounded very promising to me, and now I had someone that I knew telling me how it worked for them, so it became much more realistic. I searched the yellow pages for the credit counseling agencies and the found my local branch of Consumer Credit Counseling Services. I called them up, made an appointment and went in. I was assigned a counselor and met with her for about an hour. When I walked out, I had a huge sense of relief. I was setup with a plan of action for how my debt was going to be blasted away. I was assured that the annoying and harassing debt collection phone calls were going to cease. I was only going to have to concern myself with making one payment to my local CCCS office, and they would take care of the hassle of sending all of the credit card payments out to my other creditors. In two years, I was going to be debt free.

If you are in a similar situation, I urge you to look into consumer credit counseling services. They can get you back on track, reduce your stress, improve life for you and your family and change your life overall for the better.

Christina Khan has experienced first hand the benefits of joining a consumer credit counseling service organization. She runs a consumer credit counseling service CCCS blog where she and others can share their experiences and offer advice on consumer credit counseling services. You can find her credit counseling debt relief blog at cccs-credit-counseling.blogspot.com.

Total Debt Freedom Earns a Place in the HOT 50 List of Canada's ...
PR.com (press release), NY - 4 hours ago
Cooper says: “With all the available options out there, competition remains fierce in the debt relief arena; it’s our people and our investment in ...

OIC members urged to build debt relief solidarity
African Press Agency, Senegal - Oct 9, 2008
"I am calling for the development of a tangible action plan to establishing a system of debt relief or cancellation by rich Islamic states for economically ...

Bankruptcy: A bankrupt system?
Minneapolis Star Tribune, MN - 7 hours ago
... deliver on promises, including lower interest rates and borrowing costs, while raising barriers to last-resort relief for many debt-strapped Americans. ...

THINK TANK CHIEF PRESCRIBES FINANCIAL RISK-SHARING TO PUT GLOBAL ...
7thSpace Interactive (press release), NY - 20 hours ago
Also, the debt relief offered through the 1999 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Debt Initiative and the 2006 Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative ...

How FG spent N308.3bn debt relief funds
The Punch, Nigeria - Oct 1, 2008
By John Ameh, Abuja Nigeria realised and saved an estimated N308.3 bn from its debt relief efforts after the Paris Club wiped off its $19.3bn debt in June ...
FG Spends N2.4 bn Debt Relief Fund on Education –W’Bank THISDAY
all 6 news articles

Banks get relief on farm lending, debt waiver
Business Standard, India - Oct 3, 2008
The government today decided to ease the burden on banks on account of the farm debt relief package and subsidised short-term agricultural loans. ...
Farm lending comes to a halt Hindu
all 2 news articles

Bibo: Debt clock sounding an alarm
Peoria Journal Star, IL - 8 hours ago
So it was a relief to hear that Ross Perot was headed for Peoria, even if his representative said there wasn't time to talk about federal debt while ...

Congressional hopefuls discuss the economy
Montgomery Advertiser, AL - 2 hours ago
And I think it was the opportunity for Congress to step in and provide some short-term relief, but also understand that it is short-term relief. ...

Times Online
Ministers can throw our cash at crisis, but can't stop crisis
Sunday Herald, UK - 15 hours ago
The recapitalisation of the leading banks, backed by colossal sums in liquidity and debt-relief, almost certainly halted the run on the banks. ...
Why you will feel the pain of the global market slump Times Online
The genie's out. Now they've shown what can be done guardian.co.uk
Can politicians really make banking leopards change their spots? Sunday Herald
all 954 news articles

Escaping the US credit nightmare
MiamiHerald.com, FL - 4 hours ago
I agree with economist Nouriel Roubini that the US needs to create a federal homeowner's mortgage program to provide massive debt relief to the household ...