Friday, December 13, 2013

Things To Check Before Using Debt Consolidation Loans

Although there is no program that you have to enroll into, there are debt consolidation loan qualifications that you need to check before opting for this debt solution. These are all necessary to ensure that you will successfully get debt freedom. A lot of people end up being in a worse situation than before simply because they plunged into this solution without checking if they really qualify or not.

To help ensure that this is the right option for you to solve your problems, here is a checklist of what you have to look into.
  • Will you qualify for a loan amount that can pay off all your multiple debts? At the very least, it should cover most of them. One of the benefits of this debt solution is simplifying your payment scheme so you will not forget any of your debt contributions. If you still have multiple payments after debt consolidation loan, it defeats one of the purposes of this program.
  • Is the interest rate lower than your current average? Most of the time, you use this debt relief option to get rid of high interest credit card debt. However, if you will only qualify for a debt consolidation loan rate that is higher than your current average, then you will not be getting much relief from this. You need to either have a good credit score or a collateral to get a good interest rate on your loan. Otherwise, it may be best to opt for another debt solution.
  • Can it lower your monthly payments? Another benefit of getting a loan to pay off your multiple debts is to lower the contributions that you allot for your credit obligations. The reason for this is not debt reduction but because you distributed your balance over a longer payment period. Make sure that you will have lower payments so your budget can have more breathing space for other expenses or your savings. Otherwise, rethink this option.
  • Do you have a stable income to pay for your loan contributions for the next 3-5 years? Debt consolidation loan usually takes 3-5 years to complete If you cannot afford to pay all the debt at this time because your job was not secure in the first place, you could get into trouble.
  • Can you control yourself to keep from spending your credit cards now that the loan has paid it off? One of the pitfalls of this debt relief program is it can tempt you to use your credit card again. Since you have used the loan amount to pay their balances, you are now left with tempting credit cards. Remember that you did not really pay off your debts. You just transferred it to another lender. Keep your cards or if your credit score can take a hit at the moment, have some of them closed off. This will keep you from using them and accumulating more debt.

When all of these checks out, then you can definitely use debt consolidation loan to get out of your credit problem.

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