5 Things to Consider When Looking Into Debt Consolidation Financing

Its a question many Americans find themselves asking and it can sometimes be a difficult question to answer. There is no doubt that you have been told that debt consolidation is an easy way to regain control of your financial situation. But is it the best choice for you? Debt consolidation loans have a lot of draw backs that you may or may not be aware of. The smarter option may be to try and finance the loan yourself, rather than using one of the many debt consolidation firms out there today. In short, determining which option is best for you depends on your current financial status, credit status and the amount of debt you have. I often tell my clients that if you can finance your debt consolidation independently, you should choose to do so. If financing yourself is not an option you might begin looking into debt consolidation firms in your area to ask their advice. Below is a short checklist to determine the possibility of covering your own debt, if you can answer yes to any of these, you may consider going that route.

Can Your Family Help You Get Out of Debt?

Believe me I know how difficult it is to ask your family for money, I have been there before. But the fact is that this is one of most affordable methods to consolidate your debt. Often times a family member will not charge you interest on your payments, which will allow you to pay off the loan a lot faster than more traditional methods. The problem that many people run into here is re-paying the family member. Many people figure that since "Uncle Bob" loaned you the money he doesn't really need a monthly payment, you can just pay him when you have some extra cash. Don't do this! Aside from destroying any relationship you have with your family, its just bad practice. If you decide to turn to family for help, setup a monthly payment plan that will work for both parties involved.

Do You Currently Have any Equity in Your Home?

Obviously, in order to have equity in a home you have to first own one, do you? If you do currently own your own home, it may have built up some equity over the years which would allow to get a home equity loan and pay off your debt. By choosing this method, you would be able to then consolidate all of your debt into one easy loan, the home equity loan. Home equity loans are usually inexpensive, the interest rates are often fairly low and for the most part they are easily obtainable. Should you decide to go with this option, you must remember that your house will be used as collateral for the re-payment of the loan, you don't pay, you don't have a house any more. So make sure that it is within your budget to make the monthly payments on the equity loan.

Can You Obtain a Loan from the Bank?

If you have access to a low-interest loan through your local bank you may be able to use that to consolidate your debt into one monthly payment. This would eliminate the need to make multiple payments each month, begin to clear up your credit record and save you money by paying everything under the single low-interest payment.

Do You Already Have, or Can You Obtain a Low-Interest Credit Card?

You can use a low-interest credit card to consolidate all of your debts into one easy monthly payment without the need to risk loosing your home. However, the credit card would need to have a high enough limit that it would cover all of your accrued debt, and still have an affordable monthly payment. If your current credit card has a very high interest rate, paying this amount off would be very difficult at best, so you may consider looking into a card with a lower APR. Check with local banks and other financial institutions in your area to find a card with a low interest rate that will work for you.

Which Option Works Best for You?

As you can see by some of the ideas I have given you above, there are a lot of options that will help with your debt consolidation financing. Since what may work for one family may not work for another, you need to sit down and decide which option is best for you, before jumping in head first and losing everything.

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