Rather than debt settlement, consider consumer credit counseling

By Angela Hawke on Feb 15th, 2010

One way a person may consider when dealing with having problems paying off bills is debt settlement, though one personal finance expert advises against it.

In a recent posting on her website, Liz Pulliam Weston noted that using debt settlement will mean that a consumer will end up paying less than they low, to the ire of their creditors. Furthermore, paying off less than one owes ends up putting a debt in a consumer's credit score.

Pulliam Weston said that there are other options available to consumers rather than going with debt settlement. If they are having trouble paying off their debt at even the minimum required amount, they may consider going to consumer credit counseling, she said.

"The credit counselor may be able to put you on a debt management program to pay off your debt at lower interest rates," Pulliam Weston wrote.

In addition to Pulliam Weston's observation, there are other services that consumer credit counseling services can provide. For example, they can analyze a person's finances and set up a budget, which should help people avoid getting into problems trying to pay off debt.

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