In the "Weekend Newsletter" yet another in a continuing series of articles reported on credit card debt. The subject this time was "Cheri Cogman" of Burnaby who went for help on debts totaling $17,000, to The Credit Counseling Society a "Non-profit" organization whose money comes mostly from credit card companies-.

Cheri left her husband and has two kids; one kid is in her early teens. She is a secretary but now works taking tickets for skytrain.

Later, Cheri was counseled to consolidate her debts and pay them off over a period of ten years. The reason? Bankruptcy would make her credit rating poor for 6 years and if she paid off her debts, the credit card companies would consider her a 'nice' person.

Here it is, 4 years later and Cheri cannot afford Christmas presents and has a car in the driveway that she cannot drive because she cannot afford insurance. She has another 5 years of living like this, thanks to the "counseling".

The truth. Had Cheri declared bankruptcy she would have been Scot free of all debts within a year or so. By now, her credit rating would be restored. Meanwhile she could have afforded Christmas presents and insuring her car since she would take all earned money home. Credit card companies would be knocking on her door offering her new credit because she would owe nothing and have had a steady job for the last 6 years plus assets acquired for the period of 6 years. A terrific credit risk!

The reality of the counseling. Cheri will not pay off her debts for ten long years. At that point, she would not be a good credit risk, as she would not have any assets. Her kids will not be able to afford college or university and will continue in the cycle of poverty. Cheri would have been in poverty for 10 years and deprived her children for no good reason.

Meanwhile the banks who own the credit card companies, charging exorbitant interest rates, would keep on making obscene profits.

Lesson to be learned. If it will take you longer than 2-3 years to pay off your debts declare bankruptcy. You may have to anyway if you lose your job. After 6 years all is forgotten, meanwhile you can save your money, increase assets and live like a normal human being. The credit card companies will line up like the vultures they are to offer you new credit all over again.

Credit counseling is a front for the big banks and the articles in the local papers never really make a comparison between paying debts and declaring bankruptcy. The reporters do not serve the public. Credit counseling serves serfdom to the banks that should never had given you the credit card in the first place. It was their risk to take, make them pay for it themselves.