Budgeting & Lifestyle Counseling Services

A well-designed, realistic spending plan is the most powerful tool available for reaching your financial goals. If you're not completely comfortable with your spending plan, or would like some guidance with this or other financial issues, consider a free and confidential money management counseling session.

Why should I participate in Credit Counseling? There are many reasons and personal benefits to utilizing credit counseling services, you can view a list of them by clicking here. What should I expect from Credit Counseling? It's important to understand what to expect from credit counseling and this section outlines what you can expect to experience.

Counselors are qualified to discuss general money management, credit and housing topics including goal setting, spending and savings plans, credit and credit reports, debt management, buying a first home, mortgage delinquency and foreclosure prevention. Each session is goal oriented and results in a written action plan clearly outlining the steps you and your counselor decide to take in order to establish personal financial control.

Budgeting is simple: The amount of money going out must always be less than, or equal to, the amount of money coming in. If you're like most people, incoming funds are pretty predictable and documentable - your paycheck and earnings on savings and investments. Money going out, however, may be a bit fuzzier. Sure, you write checks for bills and you know about how much you've spent using credit cards, but cash may seem simply to disappear. As a result, you don't have a good overview of where your money goes. Understanding and changing your spending habits is the key to successful budgeting.

Everyone’s financial situation is different. Our financial counseling services are tailored to the specific needs and circumstances on an individual basis. Your confidential counseling session will consist of the following steps:

You should consider speaking with a Financial Counselor if you:

• having difficulty paying only the minimum (or not even the minimum) on your credit cards.
• have already spoken with your credit card issuer without an effective resolution to your problems
• hide the credit card bill from your spouse or significant other.
• juggling credit card balances and interest rates just to lengthen the time in which you have to pay, just to keep the "day of reckoning" at bay.
• habitually buying and returning merchandise. (Buy-and-returners often purchase things they don't keep because of compulsive spending, and they can't deal with the impulse without acting. Once they're home, they realize they can't afford the purchase and return it.)
• respond to a negative mood by shopping.
• unsuccessfully try to stop compulsive spending but can't.

What can I expect during the initial counseling session?

The average counseling session lasts approximately one hour, and there is no limit on the number of sessions you may have. Counseling is completely confidential and our counselors will review your current situation and perform an assessment of your income, living expenses and debt to help create a plan to avoid or reduce debt. You receive advice for developing and balancing budgets, managing money, using credit wisely and building a savings plan. They will help you develop your own plan so that you can do more with what you have. During your counseling session, you and your counselor complete the following steps:

• Obtain and verify personal information and all income amounts;
• Review budget and discuss spending recommendations;
• Determine if income covers essential monthly expenses;
• Review assets and liabilities;
• Obtain debt account statements;
• Review your options based on your individual financial circumstance;
• Create an appropriate action plan.

Positive impacts associated with financial counseling:

• Significantly improved credit profiles
• Lower borrowing costs and increased access to financial products and services
• Significantly fewer delinquent accounts
• Decrease in the total number of overlimit accounts
• Improvement in overall health/sleeping patterns

We provide the options, you make the choice.

Referrals
Counselors may provide specific and appropriate referrals to social service organizations for appropriate support services when they identify problems such as unemployment, lack of training, substance abuse, literacy or psychological issues.

Credit Counseling helps.......

Creditors with fewer losses due to collection and to individual bankruptcies.

Employers through improved job performance and attitude of employees when personal money problems are under control and collection calls cease.

It’s amazing to see a person's facial expression before and after the initial counseling session. Even after their first financial counseling session they appear more confident and secure knowing there is a solution to solving their financial situation. One of the most common phrases we hear from people is, "Wow, I never thought it would be that easy." But only you can take the first step in making the change!

If you‘re experiencing financial problems we strongly encourage you to take control of your finances and speak with a financial Counselor immediately. We can help you avoid going further into debt by providing sound advice tailored to fit your circumstances. We have helped thousands of people learn to live debt free only because of practicing what the credit counselor advised them to do.