What's a good alternative for debt relief?

A new no-interest card to transfer those balances to so you just have one payment.
I will caution you that proper credit card usage is paying it off each month, so if you’re starting to struggle, it’s time to STOP using them until you pay them off.

Paying your bills.

Combine all debt to one no interest rate card. Cut up all other credit cards and pay as much as you possibly can each month to the no interest bill.
Do not charge anything more until this is paid off and only then charge what you can pay in full each month.

Stop using your credit cards if you are “drowning debt”; don’t add more debt.

Sell things you are not using

“Freedom debt type companies help if you stop paying your credit cards.” – - don’t you mean “using” your credit cards ??

Find a rich man to pay your bills.

@Kropotkin. Are you volunteering ? ?

Given your criteria, there is no alternative. You want to keep running up debt but you want to get debt relief. They are contradictory goals. Keep using your cards. Eventually you will have to file for bankruptcy and really screw up your life for a while. And the courts will make you forfeit all your cards (they will be cancelled by that time anyway).

Adopt a new mindset. Tell yourself that you don’t need all the stuff/restaurant food/services/etc. that you think you do, and choose to believe it. Then cut up your credit cards and spend less. Work as hard as you can to earn all the money that you can. Then pay them off little by little, on a monthly basis.

If you contact each credit card company and tell them what you’re doing and why, then pay them off monthly a little at a time at a price that you can afford (be preemptive and call them each month if necessary) their computer program won’t kick you to the debt collectors.

I heard long-haul trucking can be lucrative.

You have credit card debt, and are considering debt relief yet still insist on using your credit cards??!!!

Stop operating in debt.

Stop spending money and pay your bills. Credit card debt costs a fortune. It’s loan sharking in my opinion. Some credit card charge over 25%! How the US lets that be legal is incredible to me. So, you might buy something for $500, but if you only pay minimums you might be paying $1,500 for it. Don’t do it. Pay off your credit cards in full or you will never catch up, it is snowball that grows. Do not just make payments, you are paying much much more money.

Some people recommend paying off the credit card with the lowest balance first, so you can remove that one bill from your list of bills. Nice to take something completely off of your plate.

You could look for a zero interest or low interest credit card to move the debt to if your interest rate is high. Sometimes they are no interest for 6 months, but then those cards often pop up to a high rate. So, you need to seriously work at getting rid of the debt completely on those cards. Watch for annual fees, try to avoid a card with an annual fee.

Anything unnecessary that costs money just stop for a few months. No manicures, no alcohol, no professional haircuts or hair dye, don’t eat out more than once a week, no coffee from places like Starbuck’s, no new clothing, cancel anything you aren’t using like Hulu or Peacock, no movies, no food at movies. It’s summer, look for free things to do in your city.

Don’t use a company to help you, I think they charge money don’t they?

Basically don’t live and yes

@honeybun35 Do not use those debt relief companies. They’re mostly scams and never follow through. Start living on less than you make. You must do this. There is NO sustainable alternative. If you don’t make enough to cover basic necessities you have to either change the way you live or make more money.

The harsh truth is you don’t get to “live” until you dig yourself out of this. How much exactly are you in debt for?

” I don’t want to do that because I still use mine.”
And therein lies the problem.

Everything I said is basically how I do live and I have plenty of money to do much more. That’s why I have the money.

You’ve seen me post that I do take vacations now and my husband has expensive cars, but when we were younger we didn’t have those things, we never went into debt, except for a small mortgage, we got married at age 25.

Even now, my husband and I try to stay cheap or free if we travel.

Not all debt relief companies a scams. . .some are backed and paid for by Visa / Master Card because they don’t want to have the card holder declare bankruptcy . . and card company get bupkis . . . zip zero !

^^Makes sense. How do you know which are legit? Can they actually get the amount owed reduced?

May not reduce but will allow lower monthly payments but NO new charges!

I used a debt relief service one time. Catholic Charities offered it. It cost me nothing. I had to give them my credit cards (so I couldn’t continue to use them) but they got my payments down significantly. From $1500/month down to about $200/month. That I could handle.

@Tropical_Willie Lowering the monthly payments won’t help if it is still at the same interest rate. The problem to begin with is making monthly payments rather than paying in full.

I guess to avoid collections a lower payment can help if it is temporary.

From the OP’s comment I am assuming there are some expenditures she can cut. She didn’t say she already doesn’t drink, doesn’t eat out a lot, doesn’t get manicures, her comment was “basically don’t live.” Giving her more time to pay is probably not helpful.

@seawulf575 Did they actually reduce what you owed? Were they able to reduce the interest rates so you wound up paying less?

Yes it helps @JLeslie time will fix it ! Stop using the Credit Card.

Pay off your own debt. That is always the answer to this question.

I’ll say it again, don’t use those debt relief companies.

@JLeslie It has been decades but I seem to remember that the total amount was lowered. But it was also the interest rates. Some companies lowered to a very low level (for the time) and some just dropped interest altogether.

@honeybun35 Don’t all credit card statements now say how much interest you paid that month? Take a look at the information on your statement. The interest you are paying is throwing money out on the street.

If you pay in full you will be charged zero dollars in interest. So, if you get your balance down to nothing you will no longer be paying extra money. Then after that, only charge what you can definitely pay in full when the bill comes and you will not be charged any interest. Interest is only charged when you don’t pay the full balance on the bill.

How many months do you think it will take for you to pay off your credit cards completely if you get really strict with your spending? Have you tried to figure it out?

Or, to pay off the card with the highest interest rate? Maybe tackle that first if you have more than one credit card with a balance.

@Tropical_Willie If they don’t change the interest rate it will take forever to pay off, because the lower payment will be almost all interest barely making a dent on what is owed. If @seawulf575 is right that they might get lower interest that would help a lot more.

@honeybun35 Have you noticed the similarity in all of these answers? You seem to think that money is free. Why is that?

Understanding that money is not free is a basic part of growing up. When are you going to start?

Get yourself out of debt and cut up your cards. The money fairy is not on the way.

You seem to really have a hard time wearing adult shoes.