The Path to Financial Freedom

I assume that you are looking at this page because you are having problems with your finances.  There may be many different reasons for your difficulty.  We, at Christian Credit Counseling Service will take a comprehensive approach to finding out the problems and suggesting answers.  No single plan will fit all people.  Some will need only Budget Counseling.  Others may need Debt Recovery.  Still others may need Bankruptcy.  We will not be able to answer this very important question until we have walked you through our Financial Freedom Questionnaire.  This questionnaire will help to bring clarity to your situation.  In some cases you may not need any more that that.  The questionnaire is an educational tool to help you understand your financial world and make informed decisions and adjustments.

Our first step in this process is to have an appointment with you so we can go over your assets, liabilities, income and monthly expenses.  This appointment can either be face to face in our office or on the phone or you can fill out our online questionnaire.  This appointment is free and will take about an hour to an hour and a half.  From this questionnaire we will be able to see how best to help you.

For this appointment you will need to gather the following information:

1.  Checkbook log / savings log for the past three months.

2.  Paycheck stubs (income information).

3.  Rent / mortgage information

a.  If rent - payment amount and due date.
b. If mortgage - property market value, balance owed, interest rate, payment amount, due date.

4.  Other loan information

a.  Car - amount owed, interest, payment amount, mileage
b.  Student loans
c.  Personal loans

5.  Credit card statements

6.  Utility bills (electricity, gas, water, telephone, cell phone, cable TV, internet service).

7.  Insurance information (home- if not part of mortgage payment, car, life, health, renters)

8.  Car tags and fees.

9.  Property taxes (if not part of mortgage payment).

10.  Federal and state taxes owed.

11.  Other items (medical and dental bills, child care, child support, alimony, etc.)

12.  Rough estimate of personal property value.

The second appointment

Your second appointment will be to help you set up a balanced budget that you agree to live on.  We will review this budget with you for a minimum of three (3) months.  During this three month period we will continue to work with you to adjust your budget and make sure that it is workable.  Also during this second appointment we will be able to determine how much you need to pay your creditors and when they can be paid each month.  The decision will be made at this time if you will continue to pay your creditors on your own or if we can help with a payment plan that makes since to you.  Remember – the budgeting process is the most important part.  Debt goes away when your funds are under control.

Once we complete your second appointment and have a workable budget, you will be on your way to getting out of debt and staying out of debt !!!!