A credit counselor will begin by looking at your finances and bills, seeing what can be stopped entirely, such as a cell phone or cable television bill. These are some of the nice items that we think of when we begin working and making more money, but they aren’t essential to our survival.

The next step they will take is to look at reducing payments. If you’re already paying the minimum, they will talk to your creditors such as hospitals and credit cards attempting to get you a lower interest rate and a lower monthly payment. Many times, these are things that can help save substantial money over the course of a repayment. By saving even 10% off a credit card bill, you are able to have more money to put towards other expenses or to help you afford other things like food and shelter.

After talking to your creditors, they can help by setting up an account for you, where you pay into the account and they pay the money on a set date to the creditors. This removes the excuses of forgetting to pay the bill, jeopardizing all the work put in already by the counselor. By having the exact amount of money come from your checking account to a repayment fund, you don’t have to worry about spending the money on other expenses either, thus helping you to make on time payments to your bills, and ensuring that you are progressing forward. This makes rebuilding your credit score easier, as it is based on the number of late payments in the past, as well as the outstanding balances.

By listening to the counselor and working with them, you can get back on track financially and rebuild your credit score at the same process. A counselor is there to help you achieve financial stability.