Hello Shelley, In answer to your question, Yes you can do the negotiating yourself. A DMP is a fantastic way for people who find that negotiating isn't one of their strongest points. Also sometimes when explaining your situation to a creditor they will agree to reduce payments but for a short term, again this is where a DMP could help more. What a lot of people do when negotiating themselves is arrange a payment they believe they can afford but are having to cut corners in order to do that, a DMP will make sure you have enough money to live off then look at what you can afford to pay off your debt, I hope this helps.