by Matthew Bon

Created on: April 28, 2009

If you have a pulse and or have been awake for the better part of 2008 and 2009, then you should be well aware of the financial crisis we are facing right now. Banks and other financial institutions, whether public and institutional or private, are faltering and barely holding on for dear life. Most Americans, and probably easily more people in the world, have been affected by this change in the market either directly or indirectly. Unemployment is reaching record highs and pushing the double digit numbers, if it has not already.

Prior to this crisis, many Americans lived on a borrowed lifestyle, which was a huge contributing factor to the market disaster. What I mean by this is that most Americans were / are not savers. When there are items to be purchased, most of us borrowed the funds out of our homes and some went as far as to borrow against our credit cards. Due to the increase in unemployment, or even many employers are implementing salary reductions, the numbers are rising for the people that are utilizing their credit cards for day to day purchases. With a reduced ability to pay off this debt, these people's credit limit is becoming maxed out. Sadly, as we use more and more of our credit and the interest begins to accumulate, it becomes more and more difficult to pay it off. What can we, the people in this hole, do after putting ourselves in this predicament?

There are several available options that I would recommend that could easily suit your needs. I would like to provide the disclaimer that everyone is different with varying needs and provisions to satisfy those needs. I am providing recommendations, not a cure all.

1) Get with a credit debt consolidation firm and / or a credit management firm

a. They will assist you in getting back the focus of paying your bills when you are in chaos and turmoil of the growing debt.

b. They are experts in assisting you to create and maintain a payment plan that is affordable to you.

c. Many times, there are late fees and penalties that they are capable of negotiating and potentially removing with your creditors.

d. In the negotiations, they will work to obtain an interest rate that is realistic for you to make reasonable payments on a continuous basis.

2) They will provide the above services and then create a plan to get you out of debt. Once this plan is established it is your responsibility to get out of debt utilizing this plan. It would be a waste of time and money should you seek their services and then not put them

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