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Thursday, February 12, 2009

How To Consolidate Debts - Help In A Difficult Economy

By John Brennan

People are being hit hard by our current economic situation, some of course more than others. Borrowing money just to hang on isn't the right thing to do although some have little choice. It's not easy planning ways to reduce your debt when you're barely hanging on to begin with. Still, while you can't ever get out of debt by borrowing more you can stabilize your situation by borrowing wisely.

When we borrow money it's often just the amount borrowed and the amount of the monthly payments we think about. The interest being charged needs to be considered as well, especially in long term loans or high interest loans. You can end up paying a substantial amount of money just on interest payments if you're not careful. Even the so-called no interest loans can carry significant penalties if not paid off in time. These penalties can come in the form of extremely large interest rates applied to the balance due.

You can take out a loan to help yourself without going even deeper into debt which seems to fly in the face of the rule stated above. If you have a number of loans already such as car payments, credit cards, money due on lines of credit and the like the total monthly payments can become overwhelming and you find yourself robbing Peter to pay Paul. A debt consolidation loan can be the answer here.

A debt consolidation loan consolidates all outstanding loans into a single loan. This single loan may in turn have a lower interest rate than the combined monthly interest payments of the loans being consolidated. In this case, though you are borrowing you're not going deeper into debt and in fact may be taking a first step towards crawling out of debt.

Other alternatives exist for debt consolidation help, mainly circumstances where you can negotiate the amount of your debt down by a certain percentage to help pay off the obligation through a third party intermediary. There are also circumstances where you can negotiate to have the interest reduced based on income and ability to pay back the debt, again through an intermediary and with meeting certain qualifications.

The consolidation loan most widely used is probably the home equity loan. On the plus side you can usually get a lower interest rate with a lower total monthly payment and have only one loan to make payments on. On the negative side the available equity in your home will be reduced (which can at times cause huge problems) and your home becomes the collateral for the loan.

Just be aware that if you're putting your home up for collateral it's imperative that you make your payments or foreclosure may be in your future. Losing your car is one thing, losing your home is something else. As enticing as a home equity loan may seem, and they are actively promoted, make certain you'll be able to handle the payments. Above all, don't start borrowing all over again. It's time to start cutting up the plastic

Whatever type of loan arrangement you end up making it's key that you put your household money management practices in order. Start working to a budget and spending wisely. Treat your consolidation loan as if it is the last loan you could ever get and put off purchases whenever possible until you have the cash to pay for the. Easy credit will return once the financial crisis is over but you don't have to follow the sheep and spend your way back into debt.

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