Debt Consolidation - Every single day, my mailbox is filled with mail. Either people want my money or someone wants me to transfer my credit card balances to their card. I very rarely get anything fun in the mail. Apparently, all of the credit card companies know that I just love to go shopping, so they all want a piece of my paycheck. However, I hate to tell them, but I don’t have any more of my paychecks to give. I owe too much money to the rest of the world.
My debt woes began in college and have continued to increase since then. That was ten years ago. I am probably still paying for my spring break vacation in 1996. Paying my bills has become more and more of a challenge. There are times in which I am fortunate enough to be able to pay more than the minimum payment and I have greatly reduced the usage of my credit cards. However, I’m still drowning in debt. I had seriously considered debt consolidation in the past until I did a bit of research and spoke to some professionals.
We’ve all seen the commercials with the happy families who consolidated their debts and are paying a lot less each money every month. But, what you don’t see is the reality that is behind that picture perfect fantasy. People are wooed into believing that some company can eliminate all of their debt and allow them to make only one monthly payment. This may be true, however, people have no idea that the interest rate you might be charged is double what you are currently paying on your bills. These companies don’t do this for free either, their fees may seem minimal, but they can be quite profitable to them at your expense.
Truly, all debt consolidation companies will do is your research and dirty work for you. They will contact your creditors and work out a lower interest rate or different payment options. This is something that you could do yourself for no fees at all. There are lots of options besides debt consolidation. If you own your home, you could look into getting an equity loan. That’s what I did. I took out $30,000 and paid off all of my credit cards. I now only pay one bill a month for that borrowed amount and manage to save a few dollars each month. If you don’t own your home, see if you qualify for an unsecured loan. If you have run out of options, then perhaps debt consolidation is something you should consider. Keep in mind though, following through with debt consolidation may be harmful to your personal credit. Of course, not being able to pay your bills is harmful as well. Just be sure that you know all of your options before following through with debt consolidation.
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