The BEST, EASIEST Option

With the economy the way it is, there are a lot of people trying to get out from under debt.

There are so many options available, that it’s hard to know which is the right way to go.

Debts consolidators seem to hold the key with lower monthly payments. THAT would be a huge relief, but are they safe? Will debts consolidators really help get you OUT of debt, or put you DEEPER in debt?

I’ve recently found out some things that might helpful.

Options

First, you should know that you have options. You are NOT trapped into one act of desperation. Some options might be less painful than others, but you can sit back, review your options, then make an informed decision that will be the best for YOU.

Let me run through the options that I’ve found.

The Book, The Class, The Tape

It’s possible that you could buy the book, go to the class, and listen to the tape, and get yourself out of debt. You could do it all by yourself, if you knew how to do it.

But then, I also knew that was like saying that you can “lose weight by eating less and exercising more”. If you want to lose weight, you can also “Buy the book, go to the class, and listen to the tape.” and you will, in fact, lose weight.

If it was that easy to do, you would have done it already.

Only 3% of the people who try to do it themselves, drop the ball somewhere along the line and fail at getting out of debt.

It’s possible that you are part of that 3%. I have a friend who’s doing it, so I know it’s possible.

Are you part of that 3%?

Debts Consolidators

Debts consolidators offer an interesting, attractive option. They pay off all of your debts for you right now, in return for being in debt to them. The great thing is that you get a lower payment. Less money going out every month. Sounds good, right?

Lower monthly payments mean that it takes longer to pay off the debt. When it takes longer to pay off the debt, you pay more interest over the course of the loan, which is now much longer than it would have been if you paid it all off yourself.

See how that works? Lower payments, longer term, more interest?

Bottom line: You pay more money and stay in debt longer.

THAT’S a trap.

First Step Financial Program

Then I heard about a managed automated debt elimination program that seems to be the Lazy man’s answer to bill paying AND becoming debt free at the same time.

They do the same thing that you could do yourself. They pay off your bills in the best order and amounts to reduce your debt the quickest.

Where it’s hard for you to maintain the discipline, they do it for you.

Once you enroll in this program, you NEVER have to pay another bill again. They take care of all of it. You monitor it if you want, but they do all the hard work for you.

You get all of the benefits of doing it yourself, with none of the hard work.

Why Trust Them? Or Me?

Let me tell you how I got involved in all of this. An old friend of mine, that I’ve known over 40 years, Debra, found me on Facebook and “friended” me.

In catching up, I told her that I build web sites now. She told me that she is the Regional Director of First Step Financial Group, a debt reduction company that manages the process of paying off people’s debt. Whatever that was… She wanted me to build her a web site in exchange for commissions.

I’m a web developer and I know everything you want to know about web sites. I’m not a financial guy at all.

You can see my web developer business site here. Read some of the testimonials or my blog posts, if you want to know more about who I am.

Plus, I own a cat named Spike.

Her program seemed…I don’t know…let’s say “I was concerned”, so I did some research to find out how it worked and if it made sense.

Single Mom

I have a close friend who is a single mom. She bought the book and went to the class. She’s been working her program for over 2 years now and has been really successful. She explained to me how her program works.

It’s not a big secret. The basic idea is that you take the total amount that you pay for your bills every month, and you keep paying that amount, every month.

You pay off the smaller debts first. The trick is that once you get that smaller debt paid off, you take the money that you were paying on it and pay down the next smallest debt.

You keep going like that until all you have left are the large debts and you’re making large payments. Doing it this way:

• Lowers the amount of interest you pay
• Shortens the time that you are in debt
• Doesn’t damage your credit score
• Actually improves your credit score

Shorter time to freedom!

The Details

Debra explained to me that when someone enrolls in their program, they have a “third party administrator”, or a TPA if you like abbreviations, who actually makes all of your payments every month for you.

You make one payment to the program every month, for the same amount that you are paying now.

Everything else is taken care of for you, lazy man!

You can monitor your progress but you NEVER have to worry about a late payment or did you mail the check? or pay it online? That is ALL DONE FOR YOU in a way that maximizes paying off your debt.

The Costs

Do they do all this wonderful stuff for you out of the goodness of their heart? Not quite.

There is a one time enrollment fee to get the program set up, and a monthly fee, both of which are rolled into the payment plan. You never pay more than what you are paying each month now. Your monthly payment never increases.

Compared to the money you save on interest, the fees are not much. To set up the account and get things configured, it is $799. The monthly service fee is $70 to keep it going. There are no other fees.

More Information

If you’re interested, I’ll ask Debra will run an analysis for you that will determine how much the program will save you. You give her the general amounts of your bills, and she gives you this cool chart back, that explains how the program will work for you.

Getting that debt analysis is FREE.

Asking her for more information doesn’t obligate you to anything. She’ll do the analysis for free because when people see how much money they’ll save, almost everyone joins. She’s happy to talk about all of this stuff.

Each program is tailored to the specific person. They will work your program so that it’s best for you.

Fill out the form below and I’ll have her contact you.

As usual, you’re under no obligation for anything. We won’t do anything bad with your email address. We won’t send you any email that you don’t ask for. We’re cool like that.

Fill out the form to get started now!