When Bilkisu’s financial house fell into chaos, she called Consolidate Credit in to clean up the mess.
Family emergencies have a way of throwing your financial house into disarray. Covering bills and expenses for those you love often means ignoring your own finances. As a result, once the emergencies finally end, you may come home to a mess. But how can you clean up your own finances when your focus has been on someone else?
That’s the situation that Bilkisu got into when she needed to return home to Nigeria for a family emergency. Prior to the trip, her finances had always been stable. So, when she returned home to Pennsylvania after the extended stay with her family, she had no idea how to recover.
Blikisu returned home to chaos…
“When I got back, I had to refinance my mortgage, consolidate my credit cards… I basically had to start all over.”
“I had too many obligations. I was in over my head.”
Bilkisu faced a challenge that lots of people face when debt problems arise. She didn’t have any knowledge or experience in what she needed to do to solve those problems. Only about 5% of Americans received any kind of financial education in school. As a result, people usually don’t know how to solve debt problems until they’ve already had them.
“I knew I needed help. I went on the computer to find out if there was anyone that could help me.”
Consolidated Credit was one of the companies that came up in her Internet search. However, although she was desperate for help, Bilkisu did her due diligence to talk to several companies before she made a decision.
She called to speak with a certified credit counselor…
“There were many companies out there, but my counselor Luis put me at ease. He told me to check out Consolidated Credit with the Better Business Bureau. So, I did. The A+ rating won my trust. I also liked the fact that Luis really listened to me.”
That’s one of the things that our credit counseling team takes pride in. People need a listening ear when they’re stressed because of debt. Taking the time to listen to what each client has to say allows our team to personalize and customize the right solution for each individual’s needs.
“Luis was really fast at arriving to a solution to my problems. He helped me streamline my budget, my finances and advised me as to what I had to do to recover.”
Bilkisu was surprised at how fast she could get out of debt…
“I don’t know what you guys did, but it really, really, really surprised me. Luis told me that I would be debt free in about two years.”
“I can’t believe how fast you were able to arrive at a solution to my problems. You were able to bring down my finance charges and interest rates from 39% to 6%. I’m very relieved.”
Debt management programs work by focusing on reducing or eliminating the interest charges applied to your debts. You consolidate credit cards into a single monthly payment, then the credit counseling team negotiates to reduce or eliminate interest charges. Interest rates are typically reduced to between 0 and 11%. As a result, most clients are debt free within 36 to 60 payments (3 to 5 years). For Bilkisu, it was even less.
Bilkisu also got access to the financial education she’d been lacking…
“You taught me how to manage my finances. And that I should budget and check where my money is going and how I’m spending it.”
She recommends the process to anyone facing a similar situation.
“Clean up! Start from the beginning and make sure you get advice, budgeting advice. I recommend the program to everybody. There are some companies who lie about how they can help you. I like the fact that Consolidated Credit is an honest company and offer very good help.”
“I have the utmost respect for your company, counselors and customer service agents. I thank you guys so much.”
If high interest rate credit card debt is causing problems for your budget, talk to a certified credit counselor for a free evaluation.
