Credit Counseling Client Profile

Gary C. knew that family comes first. When his father fell ill and his mother lost her job, Gary immediately pitched in to help pay their bills. But he struggled with debt management and quickly built up over $6,000 in credit card debt. That's when a friend suggested he talk to a nonprofit credit counseling agency. His credit counselor helped Gary pay off his debt and learn to borrow against car loan payments. Now he owns his own home in the Boston area.

"Borrowing on credit did not solve my financial problems."

Gary had opened several credit card accounts to help boost his credit after filing for bankruptcy a few years earlier. It was a bad debt management move. He made minimum payments, thinking it would help his credit report. Instead, mounting interest quickly increased his balances. Responding to a family emergency immediately worsened his financial position.

"I was destitute," Gary says. "I had debt piled up because I wanted to help my family." But at first, Gary had trouble facing his problem. He didn't want to admit that he had failed to manage his money.

"I wanted to talk to debt management experts."

As the debt increased, he realized he needed help regaining control of his finances, and he didn't want to struggle through the process alone. He called his local Consumer Credit Counseling Services (CCCS) agency. His credit counselor helped him understand what he needed to do to achieve effective debt management, and was a knowledgeable source Gary could turn to with his financial questions. Today, Gary doesn't charge any purchase that he can't pay off immediately when the bill arrives. He no longer makes just the minimum payment, now that he realizes how quickly interest and fees raised his debt. "Working with CCCS changed my life," he says. "Calling them was the best decision I've ever made regarding debt management. It was the call that brought me to financial freedom."