Is debt consolidation the right way to go?
January 28th, 2010 | by admin |Honey Bee asked:
I owe $11,000 to credit cards. I am wondering if this amount is worth doing a debt consolidation for? Any suggestions?
I owe $11,000 to credit cards. I am wondering if this amount is worth doing a debt consolidation for? Any suggestions?
4 Responses to “Is debt consolidation the right way to go?”
By feanor on Jan 30, 2010 | Reply
Depends upon your interest rate/your credit and your income.
If your interest rate is high and your credit stinks, then yes it makes sense. If not, it doesn’t because your credit takes a hit when you go to these people.
Can you afford the payments now? If your credit is good, then work on the highest interest rate balance first with any extra money. Also you can try to negotiate a lower rate and possibly do balance transfers to low interest rate cards.
By Greg on Feb 2, 2010 | Reply
Like the above poster said it depends on your interest rate and current income. If you can afford to put 2.5 times the minumum down then thats your best option. If you are only able to make the minimums then you might want to consider other options.
There are several questions you would need to ask yourself before you considered the other options. Consumer Credit Counseling or Debt Settlement is not for everyone. But in some cases it is a good viable option.
I do consulting like this for a living. If you would like to discuss more give me a call 866-506-3944 ext. 103
Good luck.
Greg
By Bill on Feb 5, 2010 | Reply
Debt consolidation is effectively trading all your various debts for a single debt with a (hopefully) lower interest rate. This may seem nice at first, but many times the consolidation loan will require some form of collateral (like your car or your house). So now not only are you still in debt, but now your car/house are at risk if you end up not being able to make payments. The loans also tend to prolong the repayment time, sometimes months, sometimes years.
Many times this repayment time is detrimental as people tend not to cancel their credit cards and thus continue to rack up debt while trying to pay off the original balance.
An alternative to consider (depending on your debt amount) is debt settlement. They work to get your debt settled for less than the original amount owed. This is especially nice if some (or most) of your owed debt is due to interest. I’ve been recommending a company ( ) you may take a look at. They have a section that explains your main options for debt reduction and a small FAQ. Make sure to *fully* research all options though. There will always be fine print!
By REBECCA M on Feb 8, 2010 | Reply
I have met this sort of situation before,here
is the resource I found helpful.