Consumer Education
Our nationally certified counselors educate tens of
thousands of consumers every year, providing a careful
budget analysis, free advice, and a recommended course
of action that is appropriate to each consumer’s needs.
We have experience dealing with a wide range of issues
that are important to you.
-
We can help you identify spending patterns that are
costing you money and provide you with proven
suggestions for eliminating waste and building
savings.
-
We can show you how to prioritize your debts and
help you create an effective plan to pay them down.
-
We can advise you about strategies that will help
you deal with credit card debt, high utility bills,
student loans, medical bills and many other types of
unsecured debt.
Each
of our Cambrdige Credit counselors carries the AFCPE Accredited Credit
Counselor certification, an indication that they’ve
been trained to handle problems like yours. At the core
of this training are two very important principles:
-
A reputable credit counseling service encourages
consumers to accept responsibility, not just for
their past actions, but for the steps they’ll take
to handle their finances in the future.
You’ve already taken the
first step by coming to us.
-
A reputable credit counseling agency works with the consumer to
create solutions and show them how to monitor their
success. This is the
cornerstone of every good education program, because
consumers learn how to avoid future difficulties by
participating fully in the process.
We’ve already used this
approach to help hundreds of thousands of consumers,
each with a unique problem that prompted them to contact
us. We feel that educating consumers is the best, most
effective method for dealing with debt in our country
today.
Free Analysis of Your
Credit Situation
The only way to provide
accurate, effective credit advice is to know the consumer’s
financial circumstances. Our credit counselors will provide a
thorough review of your current standing, for free,
prior to advising any course of action. We’ll go over
your bills, your monthly budget, your income and
expenses, as well as your short- and long-term goals,
then work with you to create workable solutions. We
believe that only a comprehensive review can reveal the
course of action that’s right for you.
Free
Educational Resources
Your first resource is the
nationally-certified counselor who’ll answer your
questions. Our staff has been trained to identify the
underlying causes of a wide variety of financial
difficulties and to work with consumers to create
effective, workable solutions. You can call the same
counselor - your personal counselor, for free,
any time you need information or advice.
Our education staff has also prepared several offerings
to help educate consumers in the areas where they might
need help. We’ve produced two free workbooks, one for
students, the other for adults, that explain the
fundamentals of personal finance. Both guidebooks can
also be downloaded for free from our GoodPayer.com
website.
We’ve also created a DVD, Budgeting With the Connors,
that shows a married couple as they create and adjust
their household budget. Along with sound spending and
saving advice, the DVD emphasizes the need for open
communication in the budgeting process. It’s also free
for everyone who completes a financial assessment.
Online
Resources
If you prefer the
convenience of the Internet, Cambridge Credit has two
credit counseling websites that are free for your unlimited
use. The first,
Cambridge Credit site (www.goodpayer.com), is home to a wide array of
credit counseling articles of financial interest. You can also download
our guidebooks from the site, and view the lesson plans
for our Net Gain program, a high school
curriculum operated in partnership with USA TODAY and
the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Net
Gain’s personal finance curriculum has already been
taught to more than 144,000 students in eight states
since its inception.
Our newest Cambridge Credit Counseling site (www.learnnoworpaylater.com), offers its own credit counseling articles
and quizzes on the fundamentals of personal finance, and
also contains units on the psychology of spending, a
discussion of wants vs. needs, information about home
and health insurance, and a list of warning signs you
should be aware of as you manage your debt. The most
useful and innovative feature of the site is its
budgeting capability. Within the security of the site,
you can create an unlimited number of budgets, trying
out adjustments and witnessing the effect your efforts
would have on your family’s bottom line. We’ll even
store your budgets for you to review the next time you
have an opportunity to visit the site. Best of all,
www.learnnoworpaylater.com
is free for your use, 24
hours a day, from the comfort of your own home.
Community Outreach
If you live in New England, you might like to attend one
of the hundreds of free financial literacy seminars our
staff conducts every year in our community. We
regularly provide our seminars to high schools,
colleges, veterans’ groups, private businesses, social
service agencies and first-time homebuyers. If you’d
like to arrange for a seminar or series for your group,
please call our toll free number, (800) 756-4912, ext.
5110, and we’ll work you into our schedule.
Education is the Answer
Americans have easier access to credit today than at any
time in our history, but that availability is not
without consequences. Easy credit has also made it
possible for us to take on so much debt that we strain
our finances. As a result, many Americans are struggling
to control their budgets, simply because they’re unsure
of the steps they should take to deal with their
situation. Cambridge Credit Counseling’s mission is to
provide the information and assistance people need to
effectively manage these circumstances. We help tens of
thousands of consumers every year, and we’re ready to
help you, too. If you’re uncertain about the best way
to deal with your debt, call us today for a free
analysis of your situation. Learning how to avoid
future difficulties while you manage your finances more
effectively today is the best way to reach your
financial goals.
