It's 2008 and most of us have plans to improve our finances and specifically reduce debt in the New Year. To do this, we have some tips to kick start your debt reduction plan. 

The New Year it's full of potential and promise. It's also a great time to take control of your finances once and for all. And to help you do just that, we've compiled these tried and true credit management tips. 

Many times in order to speed up the process on negotiations clients will try dealing with creditors and collectors on their own, this is a big mistake. If fees are being paid for someone else to do the work, let them. The professional debt negotiator will only bring a client into a negotiation only when it is absolutely necessary. Many deals on settlements have been damaged by clients thinking they can do better than their negotiator can. 

Credit Score has always fascinated me. It is this cosmic number to which most believe it is the mark as to say and tell what kind of human we are. Most believe in this number, but they really have no clue how it is derived and or calculated. There is not much information readily available to the citizen to find out how on a daily basis their credit score is calculated, but yet most are terrified to do anything to effect their score negatively. 

I like to tell my clients that financial crisis is like art: It's different for everyone but you know it when you see it. If you are gasping for breath in the middle of the night obsessing about bills you cannot pay, you should know your options. Bankruptcy, in the Chapter 13 or the more rigorous Chapter 7 version are legal protections that can be valuable but thanks to a push by the Bush administration they are more difficult to qualify for and may not provide the protection you would expect. Consumer credit counseling are marketed by so-called "non-profit" companies so aggressively that one has to assume there is profit in there some where...there is and you don't want to go there.