Sunday, August 30, 2009

Debt Consolidation Advice

What Can a Debt Consolidation Plan Do For You?
Debt consolidation loans can help relieve the stress from being in debt. Basically, with a debt consolidation loan you will be making payments to this loan at a lower interest rate, instead of paying your creditors. The loan has already paid your creditors for you. Now your only bill is this lower interest rate loan. In the long run, if you are consistent and on time with your payments, this can save you quite a bit of money. Plus you don't have to worry about paying several companies each month, you just have the one bill.
See How Much Debt You Are Paying On Each Month You might be surprised to see how much money you are actually paying once you have it added into one lump sum. This will include all credit card debt and other loans you may have. If your payments fluctuate, just take the average of the last few months. The goal with this task is to ensure that the loan you are getting is going to be less than what you are paying each month. For example, if you are paying $2000 in debt each month, You would want your loan payment to be less than $2000.   Shop Around This will apply to just about anything you do with your money. You shop around for the best deals on appliance and cars, so why not with your loans. Home equity loans (HELOC) generally are the best deals. The interest rates are lower. You are putting your house up as collateral after all. Plus, odds are that the interest will be tax deductible. Many people are weary of taking out getting a HELOC because of the risk of losing their home. Make your payments every month, you won’t have to worry about that, and you will save yourself a good amount of money in the long run. Personal loans can also be used for debt consolidation. These can be a bit tougher to get and the interest rates can be a bit higher. If you don’t have anything to offer as collateral, like your home, then this may be your only option. If you can get a personal loan the interest rates will be higher than the interest rates on your credit cards.   Set Goals You have your loan. Now see exactly how long it will take you to pay off the loan and stick with it. Try to pay it off sooner if you can. If you get a HELOC or personal loan you will have a fixed term. So seeing how long it will take to pay it off will be easy to do. Again, to make sure you are saving money, try to pay extra on your loan. Maybe try and pay a few extra bucks each month to ensure that you have reduced your debt. Stop Spending Money! This is where some people have the most trouble. All this stuff will only work if you change your habits and quit spending money you don't actually have. Otherwise you will be back in the same situation you were in before, trying to get another loan to pay off this enormous mountain of debt you have created again. Cut up your credit cards if you have to. Do what ever it takes to stay debt free. Getting out of debt is not at all easy. It takes time, but it will be well worth it when you don't have to worry about those annoying phone calls from creditors anymore.

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