If your credit card debt is keeping you up at night, there's a strong possibility that you're in the process of determining which path would best suit you so that you can be free of debt and start living again. As a matter of fact, you've probably scoured the Internet for hours at a time, yet still find yourself confused and not sure if Consumer Credit Counseling is your best option or perhaps Debt Settlement may be your path to financial freedom.

Your own personal financial situation is really the most important factor that can best determine the most fitting choice when it comes to your way out of debt. You see, Consumer Credit Counseling is a good choice for individuals whose debt isn't extremely high, and who can commit to a long term repayment arrangement with their creditors. If you should choose to hire a Consumer Credit Counseling agency, they will contact your creditors to negotiate reduced interest rates on your accounts, and set you up with a reasonable monthly payment, which they will distribute to your various creditors. Usually, the entire process will leave you with no further money owed by the end of approximately five years or so. You'll still be required to pay some interest, and the full balance on each of your accounts, but as was stated previously, the end result will leave you with no further debt.

Does Consumer Credit Counseling work for everybody? Well, certainly not. As a matter of fact, I recently talked with an individual who had been enrolled in Consumer Credit Counseling for almost two years, paying out nearly $1,700 per month. What's worse is that the program wasn't scheduled to end and bring this person out of debt for at least another three years. This is understandable because the Consumer Credit Counseling Agency was only able to negotiate the interest rates on this person's accounts down to 16%. Obviously, in this case, Debt Settlement may be the right way to go. You see, based on the amount of money still owed, this individual will be free from debt in less than 18 months if they choose to attempt negotiating with their creditors for a reduced payoff amount (debt settlement). So, as you can see, if Consumer Credit Counseling is not a good option for you, Debt Settlement may be if you can afford to accumulate sufficient funds on a monthly basis, or if you have funds available through a 401K or home equity line of credit. Some people have even borrowed from close family members to successfully reduce their debt through Debt Settlement. If one or more of these opportunities is available to you, perhaps you may want to consider Debt Settlement as a viable path to become debt-free.

In any case, what's most important is that you eliminate high interest credit card debt quickly, because it could take you in excess of 30 years to pay off your debt if you continue making the minimum monthly payments.