Once you decide to use a credit counseling program, you will need to gather all the relevant financial ‘paperwork’: bills, contracts, creditor’s statements and bank and salary details. As your counselor goes through these with you, his trained eye may see ways to reduce the owings more quickly. His wider knowledge of available lending rates could be applied to some of your debt, and he will have some ‘inside’ advice. Learn from the tips he gives you, as this will help prevent some financial misstep happening again.

Because of the particular financial challenges of these modern times, many people need help to learn effective money management skills. This is a topic which is neglected in our schools, so some churches are stepping in to provide this type of financial education as an ongoing program. This way money problems are often avoided before they happen, and by combining Bible studies on the responsible use of money, and good stewardship, the church members should emerge more financially stable than the average citizen.

As part of remedying a debt situation, your credit counselor will be able to help you analyse your past buying patterns, spending habits and income potential. This is because the learned behaviours that have brought about a money struggle have to be recognised and deliberately changed, or there will be no permanent victory. Because most people find self-discipline difficult when it comes to money matters, your counselor might have suggestions to make things easier. Examples might be using a bank account for saving that’s less ‘accessible’ (does not come with card access), reducing your daily withdrawal limit at the bank, making automatic savings plan deduction arrangements with your payroll clerk at work, using a ‘debit’ card for online purchases instead of a credit card, or even deliberately paying extra tax as a form of non-accessible savings, and receiving a nice tax refund at the end of the financial year.

Of course, not every case of being overextended is directly due to money mismanagement. Many times a sudden, unexpected financial crisis can take people by surprise. But even in these cases, the crisis occurs because a family does not have a savings ‘buffer’ with which to meet emergencies. So a long-term goal of Christian credit counseling is not only to see people back in ‘the black’ regarding debt, but to be proactive in money matters and use wisdom about accumulating savings, making sound investments, and having extra to give to needy causes.

Sue Rumsley is a homeschooling mother of ten. Sue has a passion for parenting, education and child health, and enjoys researching and publishing useful information for others. Her latest website is http://www.DIYHomeSecuritySystems.info/ which provides information on customizing your home security solutions