Question: Can I get a home equity loan while in a debt management program?

I just entered a debt management program to get control over my credit card debts. I have done this separate from my husband so that only my credit is affected.

Just after I entered into the program, my husband started showing interest in a home equity loan to consolidate his credit card debts and vehicle loans, and do home improvements.

In our marriage I am responsible for my own debts, but I am wondering if being in the DMP will affect the chances of us obtaining the home equity loan.

Serious educated replies will be very much appreciated.

If you ask me the benefits of a debt management program, I can give you a long list. This is because I am a credit-card-debt woman who has been in AKPK’s free debt management program for one year.

Wow, it’s been a year since I started making monthly debt repayment to AKPK! You know, I have also been able to save extra money in my personal savings account as emergency fund due to the debt management plan.

A debt management program is one of the many debt relief options that a credit counselor might suggest when you’re having issues with credit card debt.

It is also a good option if you don’t want to apply for a debt consolidation loan or declare bankruptcy.

Okay, let’s see some of the benefits of enrolling in a debt management program.

1. Reduced Interest Rates. Once enrolled in a DMP, your credit counselor will negotiate with your creditors to reduce your interest rates.

Interest rates will vary depending on your situation and your creditors, most rates are between 2% to 9% and under certain circumstances, some creditors may completely eliminate their interest rate to 0% interest.

2. One Single Payment. Instead of making multiple credit card payments on various due dates, a debt management plan enables you to make ONE payment to One agency on ONE due date.

I will never forget those old days when I had to run 6 banks to bank in 15 credit card payments!

Now I only need to make one payment to the credit counseling and debt management agency’s collection account by the end of every month. The single monthly payment will then be distributed by the agency to the creditors.

3. Waived Late Payment Fees. If you have late payment fees for delayed credit card payments, the credit counseling agency will help you negotiate with your creditors to waive them.

4. Creation of a Budget. The program you choose usually will help you to organize your personal finances with the creation of a budget. In this way your credit counselor can make sure that you are able to make your monthly debt repayment on time.

5. Peace of Mind. With the help of a debt management plan, you are able to start organizing your money and seeing how the amount of debt reduces and your personal savings increases.

Of course, there are disadvantages of enrolling in a debt management plan too. Before you decide if a debt management program is right for you, check the other debt relief alternatives and balance the advantages and disadvantages.

What happens when you can no longer pay your credit card debts or credit card payments? Well, you have the option of a debt management program to help bring you back to right financial track.

Debt management program, also known as debt management plan, is individually designed to consolidate all your multiple credit card payments into one lower payment.

The debt management repayment is often made affordable to you so that you can pay all your credit card payments.

Of course, a debt management plan is NOT an option for you if you are already at advanced litigation process or involved in bankruptcy.

If you find that a debt management program is right for you after a credit counselling session, your credit counsellor will start negotiating with your creditors to lower the credit card monthly payments, reduce the interest rates, and waive late payments and over-the-limit charges.

Often times, your creditors or banks will agree to the affordable repayment plan just so they can receive any amount of payment towards the balance you owe them.

As a credit card debt woman who is now in a free debt management program, I must admit that it is a great solution for helping me get rid of my credit card debts.

The DMP not only allows me to pay ONE lower repayment every month, it also stops the wave of annoying or even threatening phone calls or warning letters from the banks and credit card companies.

Signing up for a debt management program is easy; it’s a matter of finding a credit counseling and debt management company you feel comfortable with that is difficult.

Make sure you find a credit counselling and debt management agency that will work best for you. Remember, you want the right debt management program to put an end to your pestering debt problem, not creating more debt.

I am glad that I have successfully saved RM1,000 as emergency fund in my personal savings account.

I mentioned that I would set up emergency fund in February 2008. Unfortunately, it didn’t work.

At that time, hubby’s income was meagre and unstable. My income was barely enough to pay the credit card payments, utility bills and car and home loan instalments.

February 2008? I didn’t even know there was such a credit counseling and debt management agency called AKPK and its debt management program (DMP).

I only got to know AKPK in April 2008 while I was watching a biz program. But even then, it didn’t cross my mind that I wanted to enrol in its debt management plan.

I was still trying to pay down the credit card debt without wanting to get help from the credit counselling and debt management agency. I kept telling myself that I just needed to work a little harder to increase my income and cut down a lot more on expenses and spending, then my credit card debt would be gone.

Well, God always has something better for us, right? I must say that it’s God who gave me the chance to bring my financial havoc back to the right track. God heard my desperate prayer for financial help and led me to the AKPK debt management programme (DMP).

My AKPK DMP was approved in October 2008. Since then, I have been making one low payment to AKPK by the 30th every month.

Paying lower monthly repayment to AKPK also means that it’s possible to save money as emergency fund.

As of today, the amount in my personal savings account has reached RM1,000. There is still about RM700 from Amazon.com; it takes more than a month for the check to clear.

Added up, I will have had more than RM1,700 in my personal savings account pretty soon.

If the envelope budgeting system or the Canada credit counselor and personal money management expert, Gail Vaz Oxlade’s magic jars works on hubby, it’s likely that there will be more money saved as emergency fund.

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.

Are 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.

Is your credit card debt up to your ear that you are trying to lower your monthly credit card repayments? If so, you have a few options to try out before opting for the AKPK debt management program (DMP).

Note: If you would like to know the process of applying for the AKPK DMP, please take your time to read A Credit Card Debt Woman is Under AKPK Debt Management Program Malaysia.

Of course, you don’t need a debt management program, also known as debt management plan, if you are able to lower the payments and pay down your debt steadily.

There are many ways to lower your monthly credit card payments, but I am sharing with you a few which I have tried before.

1. Pay More Than the Minimum Payments. If you pay more than the monthly required payments, then your minimum payment requirements will begin to drop in subsequent months.

To make this work, you must pay well above your minimum payment requirements AND stop using the credit cards for purchases.

2. Negotiate Lower Credit Card Payments with Your Creditors. Many banks and companies are willing to work out an alternate payment plan with you if you are sincere in paying off the balance.

3. Balance Transfer Your Multiple High APR Card Debt Balance to A New Credit Card with a Much Lower Interest Rate. Take advantage of low interest or 0% interest balance transfers. Interest charges are calculated on the basis of the interest rate or the APR applicable to your credit cards, so a lower APR rate means that your credit card debt will grow at a slower pace and thus switching over to a card with lower APR makes sense.

By transferring your multiple high APR card balance debt to a new low APR credit card, you are able to save money and reduce debt at the same time.

4. Refinance or Second Mortgage on Your House. By doing a refinance or second mortgage on your home, you can use the equity in your home to pay off your high interest credit cards.

The interest rate you get with a mortgage refinance is typically higher than the average, but it is often always lower than your credit card interest rates.

As a credit-card-debt woman who is now in the AKPK free debt management program (DMP), I have tried all the above mentioned ways to lower my credit card payments; I was able to reduce my credit card debt from RM63,809 to RM40,344 in one and a half years.

But why did I still opt for the debt management program to lower my credit card payments? There are a few reasons stated in Why Opting for AKPK Debt Management Program (DMP).

Due to AKPK’s lower debt repayments to my credit cards, I am able to Start Saving Money for Emergency Fund.

Since I was approved of the AKPK debt management program (DMP), I have always been asked by readers or friends why I chose to get out of debt with a debt management program.

There were several reasons why I enrolled in a debt management programme and not debt consolidation or debt settlement. Debt settlement? I wonder if there is any debt settlement plan in my country.

First and foremost, it’s FREE to join the AKPK debt management plan. You are not charged any enrollment fee or monthly service fee. Yes, the DMP provided by AKPK (Agensi Kaunseling Dan Pengurusan Kredit) is free; it comes with zero enrollment fee or monthly service charge.

Since the program is free to join and at that time I had had enough of my piled up credit card debt, I made an appointment with a senior credit counselor in Ipoh branch.

Did I do any DIY debt management to get rid of credit card debt? Of course, I did. In fact, I began budgeting and cutting spending starting April 2007 to pay down my credit card debt before finally signing up with the AKPK program.

In a span of almost one and a half year, I managed to pay down my debt from RM63,809 ($18,000 plus) to RM40,344.

Just as I thought I could slowly pay off my credit card through budgeting and cutting back on spending, bad things crept in one by one.

Firstly, hubby and I were not able to generate more income to pay the bills. Money was always not enough when it came to making payments to credit cards, home and car loans, utility bills and personal expenses.

We started being in late in payments or skipping some of the credit card minimum payments. As a result, late payment fees, penalty charges, over-limit fees, and other miscellaneous fees began piling up and added to my already piled up credit card debt.

One day after watching the AKPK’s TV commercial ad, I decided to pay a visit to the agency and enroll in its debt repayment plan to help me get out of credit card debt without stress.

You know, I began serious about saving money after a few months in the AKPK debt management program (DMP).

Before in the DMP, there was never money left after making payments to credit cards, home and car loan installments, utility bills, and groceries.

Since being placed in the free debt management program in October 2008, I have been able to save RM320 in my personal savings account so far for emergencies and other high-expense endeavors.

Oh, not to forget that there are still small change in my ceramic piggy bank.

Seeing some money in my savings account spurs me to try harder to find more extra cash to put away for emergency needs.

If you are loaded down with credit card bills to pay each month and are wondering how you can begin a savings account for emergencies and other high-expense endeavors, try out two tips that I have been using.

1. Pay Yourself First. This tip didn’t work for me before my and hubby’s debt management programs. Why? Because there was never enough money to pay the bills; the expenses always surpassed the income.

Of course, the rule of “Pay Yourself First” works now. Thanks to hubby’s full time teaching job that generates fixed income every month. I am able to transfer his money to my personal savings account on his pay day, which is on the 28th each month.

You will grow richer each month if you begin to pay yourself first. Before making any bill payments, decide whether you will pay yourself 5% or 10% first. Then, deposit or transfer the amount into a savings account before paying any bills.

2. Save Your Extra Change in a Jar. Oh, I love this technique for saving money very much. I started inserting small notes into my ceramic piggy bank this February after reading the power of small penny and dollar savings.

To date, I don’t know how much I have saved in my piggy bank. I only want to find out the end of the year. Hopefully there will be a few hundreds that I can add to my emergency fund.

Since I was in the debt management program in October 2008, I have always been asked why I opted for a debt management program to get rid of my credit card debt.

There were a few reasons why I signed up a debt management plan and not any debt consolidation or debt settlement.

First off, the debt repayment plan I enrolled in is FREE. There is no initial fee or monthly service fee charged by the credit counseling and debt management agency.

Yes, it’s a free debt management program that is only available in my country. It’s not available to people in the US, UK, Canada and other countries.

As it’s a free debt relief program and I had come to a point that I couldn’t go on paying the huge amount of minimum payments, I decided to enroll in the debt management program.

But why didn’t I DIY debt management to pay off the credit card debt?

Oh, I did. In April 2007, I started self-help debt reduction to pay down some of my credit card debt before I joined the DMP. Between April 2007 and August 2008, I managed to bring down my credit card debt from RM63,809 ($18,000 in USD) to RM40,334.

Just as I thought my effort of tackling my credit card debt would pay off if I kept on budgeting and curbing my spending habits, bad things kept popping up.

First of all, the expenses always surpassed the income. Due to economy downturn, hubby and I were not making sufficient money to pay all the credit card minimum payments, car and home loan installments, utility bills and daily expenses.

When we failed to make payments on time, you know what will come next, right? Yup, banks and creditors started charging late payment fees, over the limit charges, cash advance fees, retail interest charges into my credit card accounts.

One day in August 2008, I told hubby that I had had enough of my credit card debt, non-stop phone calls from banks and warning notices issued by creditors. I wanted to get rid of them.

So, I am now in the free debt management program.