Who knows of an honest business for debt consolidation?

Forget the ads. Most of them are ripoffs. Contact a non-profit credit counseling service in your area. They will be listed in your phone directory.

debt consolidation is a con. it don't work. And signing up for one it will show up on your credit report as if you filed a chapt 13 bankruptcy.

You can fix the mess yourself.

I say avoid dealing with credit repair businesses. Do it yourself all it takes is time and patience, I learned on my own repairing my credit report it took me a year but it was well worth it.

1. Obtain your report through…..www.creditreport.com
2. Review all open items (first I would check to see if anything on your report does not belong to you and if it don't belong to you dispute it with that credit bureau (ex. experian, equifax and or transunion).
3. The one's that belong to you call up the collection agency and offer them an amount and let them know what you can afford (ex. I had a bill for $1000 that I owed on and I offered to settled $300 and they except offer). Also, please make sure you get everything in writing to have for your record.
4. Also, another suggestion you can write letters to and negotiate as well.

Believe me it works just time and patience. I hope this information helps.

Please don't use "debt consolidation". It is not free. It takes you longer to get out of debt and it is almost as damaging to your credit as a bankruptcy. Here is a plan that can help. If you work the plan, the plan will work for you.

A. Have a garage sale and sell whatever you don't use or need and use that money to pay down your debt.

B. Consider getting a temporary part time job and use all of that salary to pay off your debt quicker. It is better to have a no fun year
than a no fun decade.

1. Make a budget. Make the budget a week before you get paid. A budget is not a punishment! It is a tool which will free you from ever having to worry about money again. Put everything in your budget. Especially those annual, biannual, or quarterly bills like car registration, insurance, etc. Give every dollar you are going to bring home the name of where it is going. Add an "emergency fund" category to your budget for 25 dollars and save up until you have 1000-1250 dollars. Your emergency fund will help keep you from getting into new debt because of an emergency. If you can, set up a direct transfer to a savings account for your emergency fund. That way it moves automatically and you don't even have to worry about it. You must cut your spending and live on less than you make.

2.First get current on all of you debts, if you are not already, and make no more late payments, if you have had any. Stop using your credit cards immediately. Do not take on any more debt. Credit cards are like quicksand only the death is much slower. Make a list of all of your debts in order of highest interest rate to lowest interest. Use cash only for your spending from now on.

3.Pay the minimum due on all of your debts and then put your extra money towards paying off the highest interest one first. After you get that one paid off, you put the money you were paying on debt #1 (the minimum payment and the extra payment) towards debt #2. That will pay debt #2 off faster. When that is paid off, you put all three payments towards card #3 and that one will be paid off pretty quickly. As an example:

To start :
Debt #1 (highest interest): minimum payment+ extra payment
Debt #2 (middle interest): minimum payment
Debt #3(lowest interest): minimum payment

Debt #1: paid off
Debt #2: minimum payment from Debt #1+ Minimum payment from Debt #2 +extra payment
Debt #3: minimum payment

Debt #1: paid off
Debt #2: paid off
Debt #3: minimum payment from card #1+ minimum payment from Debt #2+ minimum payment from Debt #3+ extra payment.

That way, you will get them all paid off, on time, and pay the least interest. It will also help towards rebuilding your credit since you will no longer have any late payments. This works no matter how many different debts you may have.

4. After you get all of your debts paid off, add to your emergency fund until you have 6-12 months of income saved up. Put that emergency fund money into a liquid money market fund or into a Bank of America no-risk CD so that if you need the money you can take it out without penalty.

5a. When you have your emergency fund in place, add a category for "fun" to your budget. Save for a holiday, a vacation, a big screen, or dinners out, whatever goal you want. Remember to enjoy your life.

5b. When you have your emergency fund in place, start saving for your retirement. Join the 401(k) plan at work and contribute the maximum. Your employer probably matches at least part of your contribution so why give up free money? Open a Roth IRA and contribute the maximum on a monthly basis. If you start saving for your retirement now, you will probably retire a millionaire.

5c. When you have your emergency fund in place, start saving for your next car. Only buy cars, or other things that depreciate, with cash. Save up for a nicer car. That way you get the interest instead of paying the interest.

make use of the SE like google or yahoo to get some ideas first if you want to get the massive information,however if you do not want to spend so much time,here is a direct and good resource for your questions.

I am 100% agree with you. Its always better to go for a consolidation rather to go for a Bankruptcy. I suggest the same to my uncle before few days and he wasn't be agree with me. And now he is near to bankruptcy and resizes his mistake. I surely appreciate you to go for consolidation. Even I can recommend you one good company who will surely help you out. I know their Proficiency and Excellency. I never forget how they help my boss in getting out of debt.

Here is their website, I suggest you to fill up the application form for FREE, their executive will be in touch with you in just 60 minutes. And provides your free consultation regarding your debt problem.