When to consider credit counseling

Credit counseling is, quite frankly, someone you can do on your own. But this is true of a lot of things in life. JLP over at AllFinancial Matters recommends seeking out a credit counselor in the following situations (via The Consumers’ Guide to Credit Counseling by Liz Pulliam Weston):

• You can’t pay the minimums on your credit cards.
• You’re consistently late paying one or more of your regular bills.
• You’re being hounded by creditors and collection agencies.
• Your efforts to work out reasonable repayment plans with your creditors have failed.

Those look like pretty reasonable times to look for a counselor to me. However, take my Mom’s advice: always make a payment, even if you can’t afford to make the minimum. If you will be back on your feet in a couple of months, float. Your debts will probably not go into collections if you are paying something, and it is better not to spend money on a credit counselor–or risk getting screwed by one–if you can get out of debt on your own.