by Joseph Kenny | 03/6/09

In recent years, credit counseling has become a majorly important aspect of proper financial planning. In an era when allowing accounts to go delinquent is no longer a rarity, but something that befalls as much as 70% of the population at some point in their lives, it's more important than ever to become actively educated in proper saving, borrowing, and spending practices.

Consumer credit counseling, the process of becoming educated in such matters, has long been since as the antithesis of the credit card companies themselves, with one side trying their best to rob you of every last cent, and the other desperately trying to teach you how to hold on to it. This, however, turns out to be a grim oversimplification of the matter.

The truth is, everyone benefits when the population becomes more educated about proper and responsible spending, including the credit card companies! Sure, there's some truth to the old yarn about credit card companies "liking it" when you don't pay your balance in full because then they're able to levy extra fees against you. However, in a situation such as the one the world is currently in, a much more simple maxim takes precedence: if you aren't paying the bill *at all*, then those extra fees do little good. Ultimately, something is better than nothing.

In recognition of this fact, many credit card companies, the most recent of which has been the notorious Chase Card Services, have donated substantial money to consumer credit counseling services. Serving as local community outreach programs, these services exist for the purpose of educating the community in proper spending practices, especially the younger crowd such as high school students who are just coming of age to open their own bank and credit accounts for the first time.

The thrust of many of these programs is to help students (or people in general) to learn and understand basic concepts of finance. We speak here of things like how to maintain savings, drawing up a proper budget, and knowing how much one can safely borrow. With even the lenders themselves jumping into the game in an attempt to educate more people about how to behave responsibly with their money, then one can see that the situation is a dire one.

However, it also means that more opportunities for learning are there to take advantage of. If you're struggling to rebuild your credit, take a look around your own community. You're likely to find some kind of program in place that will offer you free classes or seminars in how to responsibly handle your money. These groups can be a great resource, helping people who had no direct models learn to handle money successfully, build wealth, and prepare for the future.

Be warned, though, there are organizations that look like these charitable groups on the surface, but which are ultimately just fronts looking to take more of your money. In general, there's little need for such groups to know your specific financial information such as credit card numbers or specific amounts owed to creditors. If someone starts asking questions that you're uncomfortable with, don't be intimidated into making a mistake.

In the end, it can be said that our society is moving out of a period of reckless, heedless spending and back to an era of greater frugality and responsibility. The economy simply won't tolerate anything else. Therefore, you can be at the forefront of this very movement by taking advantage of the educational opportunities that are available in your community.