Debt Problems
Can anyone tell me their personal experience with debt consolidation and if it helped you solve your financial
problems? And if you can give me the name of the company that you used. We are thinking about consolidating our debts but are a little scared about the outcome of the procedure we
Public Comments
- Any debt consolidation plan must have a foundation based on lower interest rates to pay on outstanding loans. Unless you can obtain lower rates, it may work against you in the long run. Many credit cards want to charge you over 18%. If you carry balances at this rate (or higher), you are doomed. Debt consolidation doesn't wipe out debt, it merely proportions it out so as to free more month up for you to meet your living obligations better. I devised my own plan which gets me lower interest rates all the time...by paying back more than the minimum required payment on most loans. I also invest steadily, and use my savings plan with my employer to the maximum (in other words, pay myself first before I pay others each month). Be advised that many organizations who advertise that they will clean up your credit will also charge you, so thred carefully. I can't recommend anyone since I've never consolidated through a professional. I created my own plan, and it seems to be working. You should devise your own plan and see if it works before you go with anybody who may take you for hidden fees. Eventually, people go bankrupt when consolidation doesn't work out.
- You might wish to try going through the Better Business Bureau. You are generally better off finding a local company in good standing that you can visit in person.
- I've done this before when a few credit cards got out of hand. We refinanced our house and used some money to pay off the cards. If you don't have this option you can go see a high interest credit company but shop around because you can really get yourself into more trouble with these guys. Some rates I've seen are higher that credit card rates. Other option would be a personal loan at a bank...low interest rate but they'll want collateral.
- On May 20th i made my final payment to debt consol. it took 7 years but i paid off close to $27k @ about $650/ month it did not hurt my credit score in any way matter of fact my score is excellent cuz i also paid any other bills i had on time yes they charge a fee but everybody's got to make there share so deal w/ it but make sure they are making the payments on time always look @ ur statements i used Money Management International when i would leave a message for them they always called back w/in a day i dont have the # on me @ the moment i can give it 2 u tomorrow night around this same time good luck also they do send liturature on how u can learn to budget urself better & dont fall into the credit card trap again
- Different agencies run their debt consolidation service differently. All have different fees and interest rates. But almost all of them don't have the intention of showing you the way on how to pay off your debt faster. They will help you consolidate your debt, which in turn lowers your monthly payment, but they won't show you how to pay it off faster. I work at Primerica Financial Services and I have helped many families with their debt problem. While my clients can consolidate their debt anywhere else, no one is going to show them how to pay off their debt faster. If they did, they would charge fees. All I do is gather information from the client, send it to my debt experts at Citicorp Trust Bank, and within 48 hours, Citicorp sends me back their solution. Then I present it to the client. The solution will show current debts the client currently owe and I have to verify with the client the accuracy of these balances. Then it will show the monthly savings. On the next couple of pages, it will show the amortization schedule of bi-weekly payment option. Citicorp doesn't charge fees for bi-weekly payment. They give .25% deduction off the interest rate. Majority of companies have bi-weekly payment option, but they charge monthly fees. If the client doesn't like the solution, that would be fine since the application was free and there is no obligation for the client to go ahead. But most of the time, my clients will accept the loan because it will save them money every month and get them out of debt few years sooner, which in turn saves them tens of thousands of dollars off the total cost. Citicorp Trust Bank is the only company that uses simple interest calculations on their loans versus schedule interest. Simple interest is where you send in your payment and your payment is immediately applied to the principal balance. What you will gradually see is that less and less of your payment is going to interest and more toward principal. Schedule interest is where your payment is held until the end of the month and then it is applied to the principal balance. So the bank hold your payment so that they can capture some profits off of it and then apply your payment to the principal balance.
- Debt consolidation IS an option, and you should look into it. Just be careful about WHAT you're getting into. Some plans, because of their higher APR rates get you into more trouble than you were. Take a good hard look at all the options and plans offered, and don't let a simgle company pressure you into something you just can't do. Make sure that you're comfortable with the plan offered before you commit to it. There's information and listings for debt consolidation providers on the page listed below. You'll find something of use there: http://axalda.info/debt-consolidation.html
