Consolidate Your Credit Card or Student Loan Debt

Once you have found yourself in debt, it can feel like a downward spiral from which you cannot regain control.  You find that you have too many creditors with too many minimum payments and no money left over to reduce the debt.  Debt consolidation could be the answer you need. Ultimately your decision to choose debt consolidation loans or a consumer credit counseling program to consolidate credit card debt, should be based on your own personal financial situation.

Consolidating your debt in a single low-interest loan can save on interest payments and speed the process of paying off debts.  With debt consolidation you will have one monthly payment instead of many monthly payments.  Many times with debt consolidation that one monthly payment can be less than the cummulative sum of the many mnthly payments.  Thus, the one payment can be less and yet you are still paying off more because of the low interest rate.

Early in 2006 credit card companies raised the minimum monthly payments due.  Also, the President is looking to sign a bankruptcy reform bill that will require credit counseling before individuals can file for personal bankruptcy.  This means that debt consolidation can help avoid filing bankruptcy, eliminate creditor harassment, lower your monthly debt payments, and provide you with one monthly payment. The most important benefit of consolidation is that it can offer a fresh start to a more healthy financial situation.

STUDENT LOAN DEBT CONSOLIDATION

So you went to school for four years and racked up some serious studentloan debt.  Perhaps as much as $100,000 for undergraduate school and $200,000 for medical school.  Your new job and big salary may get you so far but you need a little extra help now.  There are numerous student loan debt consolodation programs that can minimize the number of checks you write each month.  More importantly, you can reduce the amount of interest you pay and spread out the number of years to pay back your loan.  Refinancing and consolodation of student loans with a payback period of 30 years is not unheard of.  This payback will dramatically reduce your monthly payment which could be important to your cashflow as you are establishing yourself inthe workforce.  Keep in mind that you will end up paying substantially more in interest charges should you choose to pay your studnt loan debt over 30 years.  A common payback period for student loans is 10 years.  Another thing which you should know about student loan debt consolodation is that you can defer student loan payback if you choose to pursue a graduate degree following your bachelor's degree.  This means that your loans for undergraduate ,may not need to be payed back until after you leave graduate school. 

There are many websites which offer debt consolidation calculators or debt consolidation wizards which can help you determine if debt consolidation is the answer for you.  If you have found yourself in debt, and have multiple monthly payments and not enough money left over, talk to a financial advisor or look into debt consolidation today.

You can also visit our free online debt consolidation message boards to post your views, information, and questions.