Debt Elimination Success Seminar
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Section 1
A Look at Debt
History of Debt
Credit Card History
Current State of Debt
How You Got Into Debt
Good Debt Bad Debt
Business vs. Personal Debt
Section 2 Dealing With Your Money
The Two Step Plan
Doing The Two-Step
Step One
Step Two
The Paths Out of Debt
1- Create a Debt Payment Plan
2- Neogtiate Better Rates & Terms
a.Consolidation Loans
b.Consumer Credit Counseling Services
3- Negotiate Lump-Sum Settlements
4- Bankruptcy
5- The Easy Way
6- Win $1,000,000
Living Debt-Free
Manage Your Money
Make More Money
Save Money
SameMoney-MoreFun
Stay Debt-Free
You as a Business
Section 3 Dealing With Your Creditors
Alerts/Scams
The Credit Industry
Credit Industry
The Fine Print
The Secondary Debt Market
The Debt Collection Process
Original Creditor
The Charge-Off
Collection Agency
Legal Problems
Dirty Creditor Tricks
Dealing with Debt Collectors
Dealing with Debt Collectors
Statute of Limitations
Cease and Desist Letter
Section 4
The Credit Report
The Credit Report
Credit Score
Credit Repair
Section 5
Dealing With Yourself
The Critical Factor
The Art of Prosperity
The End of Failure
Prosperity Coaching
Section 6
Kids and Money
Kids and Money
How to Pay for College
Section 7
Debt Information
Bookstore
Debt Facts
Radio Show
Resources
About Us
Privacy Policy
Site Map
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Consumer Credit Counseling Services |
Host: Tom Allen
Guest: Howard Dvorkin from Consolidated Credit Counseling Services
Segment 4
Tom: I’m Tom Allen, and I hate debt. I invite you to make the decision today to join with me in living a debt-free and prosperous life. You know the pain of living a life filled with debt, but it doesn’t have to be that way. You can live a debt-free life. And Howard Dvorkin, from Consolidated Credit Counseling Services has helped thousands—make that millions—of people do just that, and he’s here to help you. Howard, we were just speaking about how debt doesn’t just affect our pocketbooks, it affects almost every aspect of our lives. After someone completes the program at Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, just how does their life change?
Howard: Hopefully they learn enough and they are sick and tired of me (laughs) harassing and lecturing, that they’ll never pick up another credit card again.
Tom: Wouldn’t that be a great thing!
Howard: It would in my fantasy world, but it usually doesn’t happen. Let’s face it: credit cards are a part of our society. Debt is a part of our society, and we have to be real about that. You need a credit card out there, but you don’t need to charge on it. You need it for emergencies, you need it to buy a plane ticket if you’re traveling…
Tom: I’m going to disagree slightly, or a variation of a disagreement: you can do a lot of this now with a debit card.
Howard: You can indeed, absolutely.
Tom: And if you can put aside a little bit of money every month into your “I know I’m going to be traveling” or “I know I’m going to have a flat tire” fund, then you may have that money set aside so that you really don’t have to use a credit card. But you have to use plastic-to-plastic transaction.
Howard: I agree, but at the same time, it’s always nice to have an emergency back up. But the fact is that you don’t need to use that, and everybody’s definition of an emergency is something different. And, if the times you do use a true credit card, you need to pay it back, meaning: if the money’s not in your pocket, you shouldn’t be buying it. And don’t think that if you buy something this month and use your credit card because you don’t have the cash, don’t think next month is going to be different, that you’re going to have a windfall and all of a sudden, the cash is going to be in your pocket. The fact of the matter is that if you don’t have the money, don’t buy it.
Tom: Yes.
Howard: People do different things to protect themselves from this—it’s human nature. It’s easy to walk around with credit cards. But I’ve heard all sorts of stories, where they give it to their best friend to hold on to (and make sure it’s really a friend, because they could run away with your credit card), they give it to their parents to hold on to, they freeze it in a block of ice!
Tom: I’ve heard that one, yes.
Howard: They put it in a bank safety deposit box all the way across town so it’s really inconvenient to go get it. There are all sorts of funny stories out there. But the fact of the matter is that people need to have the self-discipline not to use additional credit cards, and not to take on additional debt, to learn to live by what they’re making. Unfortunately, Tom, when credit cards were invented, they were invented for convenience purposes and advertised for that: Diner’s Club was the first credit card.
Tom: Yes, just a little over 50 years ago.
Howard: Absolutely, but unfortunately, now credit cards have become somewhat a source of supplemental income. It’s terrible to see someone that has to live on credit. Certainly, if people are listening to this radio show, they have an interest in the subject, but hopefully some of those people will go to our website at ConsolidatedCredit.org, or call our offices at 1-800-SAVEME2, and we’ll be happy to give them education in order to change their habits. But it’s not going to change by itself, you’ve just got to bite down hard and stop using credit.
Tom: Well, I think anyone that takes a look at change knows that small changes done over a long period of time can make dramatic differences. If you head due north and keep going that direction, and I take one step to the right and head off that direction, we may be very close together for the first few feet. But after a few yards, we’ll be further apart, after a few miles, we’ll be even further apart, after 10 or 100 or 1000 miles, we won’t be anywhere near each other!
Howard: That’s a great analogy, that really is. And little changes along the way can make big, big differences. I can’t tell you how much I agree. And what I would like to talk about is just changes in the budget and in your spending habit. But the fact of the matter is, even if you go out to dinner three nights a week and instead change your budget to go out to dinner two nights a week, that extra $30 or $40 a week can really add up over the course of a year. So little changes—you’re absolutely correct.
Tom: In the time we have left, I know we’ve talked about the current state of debt, how it has changed over the years, how people get into debt, we’ve talked about a debt management program; but if you could leave us with one little gem, what is the number one thing you would say that we should all know and use to help us change our lives?
Howard: Know that there’s help out there. Know that there’s a place you can turn to where you won’t feel strange picking up the phone. Know that there’s empathetic people who are trained to help you through your journey and your liquidation of debt, and not only your liquidation of debt, but changes in your lifestyle. Know that you don’t have to do this journey alone, that we are there. Consolidated Credit Counseling has helped millions of people over the course of 14 years get out of debt and stay out of debt. But the fact of the matter is, the biggest thing is, people have to want to do it. Put your pride aside and really just make the decision. Living with a noose around your neck is not living. And certainly, if I could stress, you’ve got to take the first step.
Tom: Take the first step. And I will say this, not just for yourself, most of us are living the financial lives that we inherited, either knowingly or unknowingly, from our family. And as we mentioned before, our family may not have known what the heck they were doing when it comes to managing money. So when you change your life, financially speaking, you will not only change your immediate financial situation and your long-term financial situation, you’re going to have a dramatic impact upon future generations as well.
Howard: No question about it, Tom. Children mimic their parents in lots of ways, and if you run a tight ship at home, chances are your children’s lives will be dramatically altered because of that in a positive manner. So you are not only changing your life, you are changing future generations. So it’s very, very important to start and teach, not only teach yourself, but pass your lessons down through your family. Myself being one of those—I didn’t get this way because one day I woke up. It was drilled into my head. We were a depression-era family, and those lessons stuck. And hopefully the lessons I learned I can pass on to many, many people over the course of my career.
Tom: And for those folks who are going to need some extra help, who need to get into and to qualify for the debt management program, quickly give us the benefits and how that works and how long it takes.
Howard: Okay, great. The debt management program benefits include a reduction in your payments, anywhere from 30-50% of your overall payments will be reduced; the abatement or significant reduction of the interest rates you’re being charged on the majority of your credit cards or loans; the abatement or significant reduction of your late fees or over-the-limit fees, if you are behind. The program itself will take between three and five years.
Tom: Howard, we are out of time. I appreciate you being on our show today. For more information, call 1-800-SAVEME2 or go to ConsolidatedCredit.org. Howard Dvorkin, from Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, thanks for being on the show today.
Howard: Thank you for having me, Tom.
Tom: I Hate Debt is not designed to substitute for qualified financial or legal advice, but to motivate you to take control of your finances. IHateDebt.com.
Consumer Credit Counseling Services
Listen to the I Hate Debt Radio show interview withHoward Dvorkin from Consolidated Credit Counsleing Services Life After Debt
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