Paying your debts quickly is obviously the best way... however sometimes people get into a cash crunch situation... Maybe a spouse loses their job, or gets sick.... it happens all the time...

Emergency funds are a way to keep a family out of trouble...

Just recently our Sears fridge broke down... it was slightly older than a year... Past the warranty date. It was good that we had sufficient emergency funds in place to cover the purchase of the new fridge...

I just want to suggest you that just pay your debts quickly this will be good for you.

I found a piece in Gail Vaz-Oxlade's blog where she talks about debt settlement

http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog/archives/358

For those who have take my message to heart – and there have been plenty – but just don’t know how to go about negotiating with creditors, here are a few tips.

First, you have to have a pretty good credit record or be on the verge of bankruptcy to get anyone to listen to you. Why? No lender wants to lose a prime customer with a pristine credit history. But if your circumstances are dire, lenders are also willing to cut lots of slack in order to get a least a part of their money back. This is the tactic used by Debt Settlement organizations to get your credit bill cut in half.

Hmm.... I'm not sure that she does or not..
I haven't heard her talk about debt settlement directly.

She's pretty straight forward.. I have heard Gail mention on her show to contact credit companies and negotiate lower interest rates and better terms..

I don't think she would be adverse to debt settlement, if it gets an individuals finance's back in order...

I could be wrong

I bet the creditors like Gail because she never mentions about settling debts.

I was looking at Gail Vaz-Oxlade's blog. She's the host of Til Debt do Us Part, which I actually saw on CNBC the other day.. Congrats Gail!

Gail has listed a bunch of questions that she must get from her followers

Below is a question for a couple who are serious savers.. They've got the emergency fund in place, they've got pensions set up, and they are debt free.

It's good to show case people who take saving money seriously.. This is a good example.. It shows that these people don't lose sleep because of debt, or because of emergencies that can come up... They have the money to deal with each of these.

Nicely done...

Thanks Gail for posting these questions on your site!

Hi Gail,
I was just wondering what advice you had for myself and my wife. Both of us are avid savers. We have a mortgage, however we have taking steps to pay it off rather quickly. We both are debt free. We also are contributing to RRSP's and have company pensions (defined benefit plans as Teachers). We also have a substantial emergency fund.

I always hear about what people are doing wrong and how to fix it, but I rarely get a glimpse of what someone should do once they are on track.

We have some goals about what we would like to do but because of our nature we are almost afraid to spend the money to do it.
What do you think?

P.S. My intent is not to brag, or come across as arrogant, but I am really unsure about what to do for the next steps?
http://gailvazoxlade.com/questions/2009/september_2009.html