Tag Archives: credit counselor

Is There Really Such A Free Debt Management Programme?

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Posted by Vedis the DMP Blogger on November 11, 2009 – 3:58 pm
Filed under AKPK Debt Management Plan, Credit Card Debts, Debt Management Companies, Debt Management Programs

AKPK Free Debt Management Programme“Is there really such a free debt management programme?” Yes, but you must be a Malaysian in order to enroll in the debt management plan.

The free debt management program is offered by AKPK, Agensi Kaunseling dan Pengurusan Kredit, in Malaysia.

As a credit-card-debt woman who has been in AKPK’s debt management program for a year now, let me assure you that it’s a free DMP that involves NO credit counseling fee, NO enrollment fee and NO monthly service.

It’s normal that when you are looking for help with a financial crisis, you may wonder if AKPK is really a free of charge agency that can help you. The answer is YES.

You may have heard of for-profit and non-profit credit counseling and debt management agencies, but they don’t exist in Malaysia. There is only ONE credit counseling and debt management agency that provides free credit counselling and debt management programme services in Malaysia so far.

Like you, I am worried about hidden charges too. Malaysian banks, agencies and companies are simply too notorious for charging surprise fees and hidden charges to consumers. Fortunately, I haven’t been charged any fees by AKPK so far.

With the faltering economy and free credit counseling and debt management services offered by AKPK, the number of people seeking help from the agency has increased tremendously.

If you think that you are in need of help for your financial trouble, you had better waste no more time. Waiting may only end up costing you more. A few days’ time can mean the difference between settling a debt or watching it go into a default status and having third party collection involved.

Hurry! Go to a nearby AKPK branch, attend its briefing and fix an appointment to see a credit counselor there and understand what a debt management program is.

A debt management program is a good way to take care of an escalating credit card debt and other money problem without having to declare bankruptcy or deal with collection agencies.

Thinking Of Enrolling In AKPK Debt Management Program (DMP)? Hurry!

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Posted by Vedis the DMP Blogger on September 30, 2009 – 2:43 pm
Filed under AKPK Debt Management Plan, Credit Card Debts, Credit Counselors, Debt Management Companies, Debt Management Programs

I love reading sincere and constructive comments left by readers. Today I am going to share with you, Sally, who left a comment on my blog post Hubby’s RM200 Budget Envelope for Weekly Cash Expenses. :-)

Hi Vedis, I’ve been a loyal follower to your blog on journey to regain your financial freedom again. I’m drowned with unmanageable debt myself and planning to pursue AKPK soon. Wish me luck!

Oh, if you subscribe to Astro, you should check out channel 733 – Discovery Home & Health’s Til Debt Do Us Part. This show actually features her helping couples with financial problems so that they’re moving towards financial freedom within a certain period of time.

Currently I think they’re showing it on weekdays at 11:30pm and I make it a point not to miss the show whenever I could. I think you gonna love this show!

Alternatively, you may check out her website at www.gailvazoxlade.com to learn about the show & use some of her interesting financial tools to help you manage your personal finances.

Hi, Sally, it’s nice that you cared to look up my name before leaving your comment. This definitely spurred me to go on reading your comment. :-)

You’ve got to hurry if you want to enroll in AKPK’s debt management plan. I read that the number of people with credit card debt trying to sign up with the program is on the increase; an AKPK DMP applicant said his appointment with the credit counselor was a few weeks after the credit counseling briefing!

I remember when I made an appointment with my credit counselor Mr. C in Ipoh branch back in August 2008, it’s very fast. I mean I met the counselor the next day! When my hubby was ready to enroll in the debt management programme in December 2008, he had to meet the lady counselor the following week!

Of course in the end, he didn’t have to wait until the following week to see the credit counselor; he met her the following day after I called and talked to the counselor.

What did I say to the counselor that she agreed to let hubby see her the next day? Well, I told her that I was also in the AKPK debt management program and I had already gotten the original and photocopy of all required documents ready. I told her that I had even worked out the debt repayment amount for hubby’s plan.

I convinced her that she didn’t have to give hubby any credit counseling session as I had already told him everything that he needed to know.

The lady counselor just needed to fork out 15 minutes to go through all the documents to see if hubby was eligible for the debt repayment plan.

Sally, thanks for telling me Astro’s Discovery Home & Health’s Til Debt Do Us Part programme. Unfortunately, I am not an Astro viewer. :-)

But I will google to see if there are online videos or clips for this Til Debt Do Us Part program. Oh, I tell you, I love watching reality TV shows!

I will definitely spend some time reading this Canada credit counselor and personal money management expert, Gail Vaz Oxlade’s articles at her website.

Wish you good luck! May AKPK debt management program help you get out of unmanageable debt soon.

Updated on 02/10/2009: You can watch the videos of Til Debt Do Us Part online at www.Slice.ca provided you are living in Canada.

Read Success Stories Of AKPK Before Enrolling In Debt Management Program (DMP)

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Posted by Vedis the DMP Blogger on September 23, 2009 – 6:00 pm
Filed under AKPK Debt Management Plan, Credit Card Debts, Credit Cards, Credit Counselors, Debt Management Companies, Debt Management Programs, Spending / Expenses

AKPK Debt Management Program (DMP) Is Not A ScamAre you burdened with too much credit card debt that you are thinking of applying for Malaysia’s AKPK debt management programme (DMP)? But, you are also worried whether AKPK, the credit counseling and debt management agency set up by the Central Bank of Malaysia, is a scam or not, right?

I understand. Been there and done that.

To thoroughly convince yourself to enroll in the debt management plan, read as many success stories of AKPK as possible. There are more success stories of AKPK or AKPK bloggers now if compared to last August when I submitted my application form.

Before you read others’ experience using debt management program, read the FIRST AKPK success story; it’s my bumpy journey from submitting the application form to being approved of the debt repayment plan. :-)

And here is another success story that I would like to share with you. CEO, a man who is under RM200,000 credit card debt, has successfully applied for the AKPK debt management program recently.

He left a long comment at my credit card debt blog on August 1st, thanking me for sharing my credit card debt reduction and AKPK application process with others.

You don’t have to hop over to my credit card debt blog to read his comment. I have decided to copy and paste the entire comment on this debt management program blog for easy reading.

First of all, A BIG THANK TO YOU FOR THIS BLOG. You are not only a woman of courage to reveal all that detail, but you have helped me tremendously.

I just got out from the AKPK office, and they proposed to reduce my monthly commitment from nearly RM10,000 to just RM2,000 per month.

I got into a heavy credit card debt 5 years ago when a friend asked me to join him in a business. Trusting him, I quit my job, funded the business with my credit cards, supported HIM with a supplementary credit card which he took only 1 month to swipe up RM20k, and lastly he just ran away, leaving me to pay everything.

Finally, the economy hit my career, and this month I had to accept a drastic paycut. It scared me at first, but I decided that maybe there was a silver lining.

I found your blog. I read and re-read it until 3 am.

I thought — maybe, if I go to AKPK, and they reduce my monthly repayment, I can actually start seeing some SURPLUS from my smaller income. Better to have a small income but with extra money, than having a big income but nothing to show for it. Of course, with my previous 5-figure salary, AKPK would just kick me out, but now I had the advantage of the situation.

Last Monday, I braved myself to go to AKPK. It was the hardest thing to do, to be SEEN walking into debt counseling. I have appeared in the media before, television, magazines and newspapers. Didn’t know where to hide my face. I arrived at 11.45, and was put immediately into the intro class.

I was surprised to see quite a few “corporate people” in the class, dressed in their office attire. I don’t know if they were as ‘embarrassed’ as I was to be there. I sat down for 1 1/2 hours, after which I immediately went to Bank Negara to collect my credit report.

I made the earliest possible appointment to see a credit counselor. In the meantime, I went to each bank and collected any missing statements.

I went to see the counselor this morning. She was polite, comforting and never did anything to make you feel small. She said she would try to negotiate it down to RM1,800 a month for the first 2 years then RM2,200+ thereafter. I said never mind, let’s make it RM2,000 flat. I’m sure by the time the economy rebounds, I will be able to afford the RM2,000 easily.

She even guided me to fill up the application form properly (to fill the correct figures so the application can be approved easier). In short, she was there to help, and I mean REALLY help.

I got close to RM300k at first, but over the years, paying slowly, I have managed to bring everything down to under RM200k (which makes your RM60k something to smile about, actually!).

I have been earning 5-figures every month from my salary, yet I never get to taste my own money. My children have to settle for cheap clothings like poor kids.

Every month, I pay pay pay pay… I try to keep myself motivated, but it is tiring to wake up every morning, thinking to yourself, “I am running every day, only to stand still.”

She asked for the first payment of RM2,000 to be deposited, which I will do next week as the banks are closed today. From there, processing will take approximately one month.

She says no need to pay the creditors, if they call I just need to tell them I have submitted an AKPK application and fax the deposit slip if necessary.

Fortunately I am not yet under any legal problems, and most of my loans are still current. If you are thinking about doing it, do it now. It is important to take action at THIS stage before the banks start harassing you.

I do not really care that I will not be able to get any new loans until the 10 years are up. I am selling my house and just live with the car. Maybe not now, but when the economy goes back up, and my salary climbs back to normal, I should be able to save up for a couple of years, and pay for a new budget-priced apartment in cash. The important thing is I will now have a positive income and room to breathe, and I HAVE YOU TO THANK.

God bless you. Please keep up the good work.

Why Opting To Go Through A Free Debt Management Program?

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Posted by Vedis the DMP Blogger on September 8, 2009 – 5:28 am
Filed under Credit Counselors, Debt Management Companies, Debt Management Programs

Why A Debt Management ProgramAs a credit card debt woman who has been in a free debt management program since 2008, I am always asked why I opted to sign up a debt management program and didn’t do it myself.

First off, the debt management program I enrolled in my country is FREE; there is neither enrollment fee nor monthly service charge.

As far as I am concerned, there is only ONE credit counseling and debt management agency in my country. It’s different from the US where there are lots of non-profit and for-profit credit counseling agencies.

Since it’s free debt management plan that involves zero service fee, why not?

Next, contacting banks and negotiating a partial settlement or a reduction in the bills is more difficult than you think.

I DID try to call up and write in asking for lower interest rates. Out of six banks, only one bank agreed to reduce the interest rate to 9%. A few banks were between 12% and 15% while the rest declined to lower the 18% per annum interest charge.

When I found out that my credit counselor was able to negotiate with banks to reduce my interest rate from 18% to 6% and 7% for some banks, and most important of all, to waive late payment fess and over limit charges, it didn’t take me long to make up my mind.

I signed up the free debt management program after the certified credit counselor explained in details what a debt management plan was and reminded me a few times that all my card accounts would be included in the program and closed.

Take note: All Your Credit Card Accounts Will Be Closed Once You Are In A Debt Management Plan (DMP). Shutting down all your accounts means that it’s likely to damage your credit score.

Since my maxing out most of my credit cards had already harmed my credit utilization ratio, a key component of credit scores, it’s okay to shut down all card accounts.

If you are in the US, make sure you sign up with a credit counseling agency affiliated with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling or the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies.

An accredited credit counseling and debt management agency typically charges $30 one-time setup fee, and $15 per month while you’re on the debt management plan.

If you don’t want to deal with your creditors directly and you need help with all of your credit cards, opt to go through a debt management program.

Before Enrolling In A Debt Management Plan (DMP), Attend Credit Counseling Briefing

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Posted by Vedis the DMP Blogger on August 26, 2009 – 10:12 am
Filed under Credit Counselors, Debt Management Programs, Debt Management Tips

Are you currently overburdened with innumerable debts that you are thinking of getting help from a debt management plan (DMP) to help you get over the debt burden?

As a credit card debt woman who is now in a free debt management program, let me share with you what a debt management program is. :-)

A debt management program, also known as debt management plan, is a program designed to combine all your existing multiple unsecured debt payments from credit cards, students loans, personal loans, and medical bills into one payment.

So instead of paying multiple payments to various creditors on different due dates, you make a single payment to the credit counseling company you sign up the debt management plan with. The credit counseling and debt management company is then in charge of distributing the debt repayment to all your creditors.

The consolidation of multiple monthly payments into one monthly payment usually results in lowering the total monthly payment previously paid and thus allowing you to continue to pay your debt with lower payments and reduced interest rates and most important of all, restore your credit score.

However before you enroll in a DMP, it’s important that you attend a credit counseling briefing first. To effectively use your time with a credit counselor, make sure you have certain pieces of information in hand before your first meeting.

If it is determined that a recommended budget is enough to help you get out of debt, your credit counselor will NOT enroll you in a debt management plan.

Beware of credit counselor that automatically signs you up with a debt management program! This means your debt management counselor does not have your interest at heart; he tries to make money from you through collecting fees.

A certified credit counselor will help put your debts and finances in order by helping you develop workable budgets and money management skills and pay off debts.