Posts Tagged ‘Personal Finances’

All About Debt Consolidation Loans

Monday, July 5th, 2010



Debt consolidation loans are loans that are used to pay off existing debts and in the process merge the debts into a single loan. Debt consolidation loans are therefore useful for people whose debts have spiraled out of control and who need to simplify their finances.

It has never been easier to obtain both secured and unsecured debt. These days there are thousands of lenders willing to issue various forms of debt – such as store cards, credit cards, and personal loans – to all kinds of borrowers.

Lenders seem willing to lend money to almost anybody in today’s economy and even people with adverse credit histories are not automatically excluded from applying for many different types of credit.

While this can seem positive, it can lead to situations where borrowers who are unable to manage their finances properly are successful in obtaining large amounts of debt. This is, of course, not a good situation for a borrower to find themselves in and it is becoming more common as lenders’ continue to loosen their lending criteria.

Individuals who overextend their borrowings can find themselves in situations where they have store cards, credit cards, car loans, personal loans etc from a variety of lenders. Each of the individual debts will require the borrower to make monthly payments towards the balance of the loans and the interest charged on them, which can cause havoc to their personal finances.

Not only can the overall amount of money due each month be too much for the borrower to pay, the sheer number of payments due can be difficult to manage and budget for especially if the payments are due at different times of the month.

This is where debt consolidation loans can help. If the borrower feels that their finances are out of control and they wish to only make one payment towards their loans each month, they should consider debt consolidation loans as an alternative to managing their debts on an individual basis.

There are several different forms of debt consolidation loans, including secured and unsecured, and the product that will suit each borrower’s requirements will depend on their individual circumstances.

Details of the borrower’s personal situation will need to be assessed and matched to the criteria for the various debt consolidation loans available on the market at the time of application. These details will include the borrower’s employment situation, whether they are a home owner or a renter, and whether or not they suffer from any bad credit.

If you wish to receive expert advice on debt consolidation loans, contact an independent mortgage advisor today.

By: Michael Sterios

Why Debt Consolidation Is Better Than Bankruptcy

Monday, March 15th, 2010



Can debt consolidation help? When you look at the dire state of some people’s personal finances, it is utterly amazing to note that they are apparently living in a state of total denial about the mess things are in. It is sometimes difficult to look at one’s finances objectively, especially when you know they are working hard, and perhaps not even trying to lead the typical champagne lifestyle on a beer budget.

There are many reasons that a person finds themselves in this situation, and it rarely comes as a shock to them, since they usually know it long before it reaches critical mass. The biggest problem is that they have done nothing about it up to this point, and now all hell is ready to break loose. Interestingly enough, studies have shown that people who find themselves in a dire state of financial affairs are rarely due to financial mismanagement. Sometimes yes it is incredible and gross financial mismanagement, but typically the reason is due to some set of circumstances out of their control, such as a divorce, a layoff from their job, some huge unexpected medical bill, or something like that.

People in this situation are looking for a solution. They may have known that a real solution was needed for quite some time, but were only able to admit it to themselves when things got really bad financially. Maybe they were hoping that something would happen to fix the situation, like that big contract with a new customer, that raise that they hoped they would, or the classic, having the winning lotto ticket.

Action is required, and it is required NOW, not after next week’s lotto drawing. So what are your options? You need some type of consolidation whether it is credit, credit cards, student loans, college loans, etc.

You could look at a personal loan, but that is really only going to delay the inevitable, and when the inevitable comes, they are going to be in even worse shape financially because now they have yet another debt obligation to deal with.

You could consider bankruptcy, which many people do, but that is a drastic measure, and studies have shown that it is a measure that people try to take too frequently, and which has long term negative impacts in many areas, including a huge blemish on your credit reports from the credit reporting agencies for the next 7 to 10 years. And with the new bankruptcy laws, you now need to get approved to file bankruptcy, so there is not even a guarantee that that would be a solution for you.

You need to consider debt consolidation. It will do more for you than yet another personal loan and it is not as drastic a step as bankruptcy. What happens is that you meet with a counselor from a debt consolidation service company who will go over your total debts in detail, then will work out a budget for you to follow. But there is much more to it than that, since so far that only describes a credit counseling agency.

They then take your debts and you pay them each month. This is different from a loan, because they do not pay off your debts all at once, but rather they make regular payments to each and every one of your creditors based on the payment you make to them, where you have worked out a mutually agreeable figure with them.

How this works is that they negotiate with your creditors to get your monthly payment lowered, your interest rate lowered, and sometimes are even able to get late fees, past due fees, and overlimit fees waived. Where this is a benefit to you is that say you were paying out $2000 a month previously, but after signing up with the debt consolidation services company, your monthly payment now might only be $1200 a month. This gives you the financial breathing room you need right now so that you can start making some headway towards getting them paid off and not being hassled by them every month.

Consider debt consolidation to help with your financial situation. It has worked for hundreds of thousands of people and has given them a new financial life without going deeper into debt in the process.

By: Jon Arnold

The Truth About Christian Credit Card Consolidation

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010



With the cost of everything looking set to rise for the next few years, more and more Christians are finding it a strain to keep control of their personal finances. In the past many have turned to HELOCs to help refinance but these do not represent a long term solution and indeed have become increasingly unavailable due to falling house prices and the credit crunch.

For this reason there is an increasing demand for credit card consolidation services but by and large I have little faith in these. The problem with any form of consolidation is that it feeds the debt monster if one doesn’t commit to changing the way money is treated.

As I once read money is not for spending it is for managing and a good Christian Debt Consolidation counselor will show you how to manage money so that you never have to worry about debt again.

Now that’s fine and dandy but if you can’t see a light at the end of the debt tunnel my writing that last paragraph isn’t going to help. So whilst I don’t like credit card consolidation it does have a place in the market.

In essence consolidation of credit cards means rolling up the debts on your existing cards and using a balance transfer mechanism switch them over to a new credit card offering a better deal. Note I said a better deal. Oftentimes we fail to check out the headline offers in sufficient detail and we end up worse off than before if we’re not careful.

Always remind yourself of the truth here. The credit card industry doesn’t want you to pay off your outstanding balance each and every month because if you did they wouldn’t make any money. Effectively they are preying on our lack of financial management skills and taking a slice of what we cant afford to pay in the first place.

So are there good deals out there? Of course but they require considerable research to identify and most of us just don’t have the drive to look beyond the headline rates. This has lead me to the conclusion that if we don’t want to check the fine print we shouldn’t attempt credit card consolidation. Why, well lets check some of the pitfalls shall we.

Have you heard of the “universal default rule”. This little beauty means that if you are more than 30 days late on any payment the interest rate on your credit card can shoot up and your credit score damaged. And guess what? Many companies are applying this rule on a daily basis. The lesson? Make sure any new card doesn’t apply this draconian rule.

What about fees? Sure the headline rate looks attractive but you can incur a balance transfer fee – 3% of your debt not being untypical. Then there are late fees, over the limit fees and other costs that can be associated with the card.

If you aren’t prepared to do the research your best bet is probably to call your existing card companies explain you’ve found some better deals and ask if there is anything they can do to match them.

For more information please visit the Christian Debt Consolidation Guide. This is an information only website providing independent and unbiased views. We do not provide Christian Debt Consolidation Services just a good education.

So when should we consider credit card consolidation? Only as part of a large Christian debt consolidation solution. The fact is that most of us try unsuccessfully to create our own solutions and we can believe that this offer is right for us. In truth, there are multiple strands to successful debt reduction and debt management and even Christian Debt Consolidation carries plenty of pitfalls for the unwary. Even a not for profit organization has to make money!

Consolidation should only be considered as part of a wide Christian debt consolidation counseling service. Find a Christian debt consolidation counselor that cares about you and can help. Don’t accept the first offer that catches your eye, shop around. Get a feel for the different offerings and see if what they say makes sense to you. Ask questions. How much does the service cost. Do they show you how to avoid getting into money troubles again and repeating the sins of the past.

Finding the right Christian debt consolidation service will strengthen your faith and put money back in your wallet. It might not be easy but with trust in God and a determination to get through you debt woes you will come out the other side stronger.

By: Michael Page