Consolidated Credit Counseling Services has been a Better Business Bureau accredited business for 12 years. They have earned their top rating, A+. The Canadian branch of this company has been accredited since 2008 and has an A rating. The US company has had 60 complaints reported to the BBB over the last three years, all of which seem to have been resolved. That is about as good as you can expect a company to perform.

Consolidated Credit Counseling Services is a non profit organization. You can find more information about them at their website at www.consolidatedcredit.org. Their debt management program consolidates your debt into a single monthly payment which is easier to handle than a laundry list of creditors. They tend to discourage you from using a debt settlement company. Debt settlement companies offer to handle the bill paying for you but don’t necessarily reduce your payments overall. Scams are wide spread in this industry.

A Consolidated Credit Counseling Services scam seems to be possible as well. If you read the reviews at http://www.consumeraffairs.com/debt_counsel/consol.html, you will notice some stories that sound like less than stellar business practices. This is in stark contrast to the BBB rating. I tend to put these into the buyer beware category. Make sure you know exactly what you are signing up for and follow up to make sure you get it.

I can see how this would be tricky in this particular case. After all, you are contacting Consolidated Credit Counseling Services because you have had a problem keeping track of your personal finance. You are making the right move in seeking help. In a perfect world, the company you hire to help you would be the most ethical of companies with perfect employees. Even the best of companies does not always hire perfect employees.

My recommendation would be to enlist the help of a friend that is great with personal finance. Don’t expect them to solve your problems for you, just ask them to help you sign up for a service you need to help you get your financial life straightened out. Have them read the contracts with you and explain them to you in a way you can understand. Let them be your safety net so they can make sure you have noticed all the fine print you may need to know about. You may want to make a list of the things to pay attention to.

Just because you enroll in a debt management program does not mean all of your problems are taken care of. You need to take advantage of all that is made available to you. Companies do not usually run after you to get you to learn about personal finance. They make counseling available to you but it is up to you to make the appointments to take advantage of the learning opportunities. Simply deciding that it is time to do something about your debt isn’t enough. You have to pursue it. This is an area of knowledge you have decided you are lacking in. Now fix it. Actively pursue every program you signed up for until you have learned everything you need to know.

Once you know what you need to do, you actually have to implement your new knowledge. Don’t charge to those credit cards. Spend less money than you earn. Can you believe that almost half of American households actually spend more than they earn? It is no wonder debt management is such a big topic. Consolidated Credit Counseling Services can help you. Their record appears to be good enough. Just make sure you know what they are doing for you and what you need to take care of yourself.