Want to be DEBT FREE? Debt Consolidation may be the key!

Credit Card Debt

Most Americans suffer from serious credit card debt. Although used properly, credit cards can be wonderful and easy tools for making purchases. Unfortunately, most people do not exercise prudent control when using them and therefore find themselves in debt trouble. Before the consumer knows what's happening, monthly credit card payments are higher than he can afford.

Mention organizations like Click Debt Consolidation to Lloyd Cook, a respiratory therapist in Florida and he shrivels with distaste. His debt "portfolio" now stands at close to $100,000.

"I wouldn't touch a debt management organization with a ten foot pole," he explains. "With them you have to obligate yourself not to go back into the debt. I have expensive taste in clothes, in food, and I have an image to uphold with my friends, family, and the ladies. The only solution I have is to keep doing what I've been doing. For me it's the lesser of two evils."

What Lloyd has been doing is called "juggling" credit card debt, borrowing from one to pay back the other. Lloyd, who calls himself a "professional juggler," juggles about forty creditors and five credit cards simultaneously. His own salary is just for daily living expenses. Juggling is for the designer clothes and luxury items he is addicted to. Eventually, he plans to pay back his loans by selling his large apartment and moving to a cheap outlying area, although he acknowledges that the profit might not cover all the debt that he's accrued up to now.

From the time he got out of school Lloyd, a grade A student, made sure to live only within his means, which was from a blossoming career as a respiratory therapist and occasional tutoring jobs. This meant buying second-hand clothing and making everything from scratch, from mayonnaise to peanut butter. The furthest "vacation" was a cross country ride to Las Vegas. Lloyd considered himself stingy and would never overspend, and managed to live his life without the pressures of rampant consumerism.

Then he met his first girlfriend.

"I went to my best friend and complained. 'I have to go into debt in order to impress this chick? I have to buy elegant clothes, fancy gadgets, and take her on exotic vacations in order to hang on to her? I refuse to get into debt for this!' The friend didn't say, 'you're right,' even though he himself was suffering from debt problems. He said, 'Don't be a fool. Don't fight the system. This is how it is, if you want to get good with the ladies you do what you got to do.'"

"It was murder at first. Borrowing is so against my nature. But I must say that over the years I've learned all the tricks to manipulating debt. I know one day I will have to pay it all back. Where will I get it from? Hopefully one day, it will all work out."

"When creditors hand me money, I accept it. But what will I do next year? I don't know. So far, I'm just happy that I have a good reputation with my various creditors, because I'm organized and always pay back on schedule. Plus I have a circle of friends and we're all guarantors for each other's loans. I'm not advocating this way of life, but for me, it seems to be working best."

In the United States credit cards has become a way of life. Mark Taylor, a debt consolidation specialist, calls it a plague:

"A couple generations ago, you knew who was poor by the patches on their clothing. Today everyone dresses well, and people don't want to be caught without the latest gadgets or trendy furniture. They have learned how to live with credit card debt. The code that 'if you don't have you don't buy,' doesn't apply anymore."

"Let's say a young man's main income is a regular average salary," Mark continues, "but instead of living frugally within his limits, he sees it as natural that he should manage with credit card debt. For him it's not a bad thing because he probably sees other friends and family members abusing their credit cards as well."

Mark Taylor is a regional coordinator for Click Debt Consolidation, a New York based referral agency established to get people out of debt and keep them debt free. He is convinced that, even with below average salaries, people can find ways to make ends meet without borrowing blindly.

Don't end up like the 1.3 million Americans who filed for bankruptcy in 2002 because of unmanageable credit card debt. By enrolling in a consumer credit counseling program, you can avoid bankruptcy. You alone can take control of your finances; take control of your life.