Question:
HELP! The mean, nasty Dept. of Education is threatening to garnish my wages to the tune of $350+ a month. With my other student loans and CC debt, that will leave me unable to pay rent + bills. Does anyone know of a debt consolidation/credit counseling service that handles student loans? (Most do not.) I'm looking for someone who will sort out my finances and negotiate reasonable payments with my creditors.

Answer:
Of course not .you can't "borrow" your way out of debt. It is time to put that nose to the grindstone and work and pay off your financial obligations. You signed an agreement with the Department of Education to pay them back and they want THEIR money. It is your obligation to pay them and no one can do that but you. Get yourself a second job deliver newspapers, deliver pizza, have a garage sale, cut up your credit cards, make a budget and live by it . Live on less than you make by lowering your inflated standards. These are the things that responsible adults do.

Does anyone know of a debt consolidation/credit counseling service that handles student loans?

Sally Mae will consolidate your loans, but you might have to be current on the loans to do it.

I'm looking for someone who will sort out my finances and negotiate reasonable payments with my creditors.

With this you will have to go to a credit counseling agency. If you are in a larger town, check the yellow pages. It's hard for me to sympathize when my loans are over $600/mo and soon my husband's will come due at about the same total, but we still are able to make ends meet, and yes we do give up a lot to pay the bills, but it is our responsibility to repay what we borrowed. Mr. Bill's get-a-job reply is fair enough. I didn't give the full picture: I'm already doing free-lance work whenever possible; other debts bring the threatened total up to $700+/month.

My rent for tiny apt. is $550. Also, my description of the D of Ed as "nasty" gave the impression I'm a whingeing spoiled brat. My fault. I was referring to the aggressive and duplicitous practices D of Ed employees use to intimidate debtors. I don't object to aggression: it's their money and I've screwed up repayments. But lying and intimidation make the D of E seem like the IRS: They have said, "Pay $100 today and that'll be OK for a month." Then they've called back the next day and said, "Oh, I spoke to my supervisor, and he says it has to be $200." Other people have told me of the same I've-spoken-to-supervisor tactic, so it seems to be part of D of E training. Anyway, that's beside the point. I borrowed the money and I need to pay it back. I'm not looking for a loan. I'm not looking for a handout. I'm looking for a counselor to help me negotiate lower monthly payments that I can afford. Then I'll be able to commit to a monthly payment plan until the loans are paid off. If anyone knows of such a service, pls let me know. Apologies again for sounding like a spoiled brat.