Have you lost your job like so many of us have and you are tired of getting collection calls all hours of the day and night? If so, you are not alone. You may even have considered declaring yourself bankrupt. However, negotiating debt consolidation may be an alternative to bankruptcy for you.

Here are some facts for you to consider. First of all when you file Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy, the bankruptcy stays on your credit record for a minimum of ten years. If that isn’t enough, every loan application has a question incorporated in it that asks if you have ever filed bankruptcy before. If it is longer than ten years ago, it still could count against you. So good luck with establishing your credit once again, or getting a lender to lend you any money!

Debt consolidation doesn’t repair your credit, but it does go away after seven years. Typically a collection or a charge-off drops off from your credit report after seven years. Therefore, if you consolidate your debts on a management program, you can at least show that you did pay something.

What happens with debt consolidation is you modify your balances owed on unsecured credit at a reduced interest rate. This action actually creates a smaller monthly payment that will fit into your budget. Be cautious however, as once you agree to a modification program, you will have to stick to it.

If you don’t, you could be in for some other issues such as a summons into court and having your paycheck garnished. So be careful when looking into these programs to make sure you can meet the new scheduled payment program.

Debt counselors will focus on your unsecured credit as these creditors have a lot more to lose in bankruptcy. Therefore the creditors tend to work with a counselor of choice. Just make sure you do your homework and select a good one.

One thing you might try is negotiation on your own with your creditor first. Sometimes honesty is the best policy and if you explain your situation to an unsecured creditor you may find that they will work with you. This way you avoid any fees charged by a company to do this work for you. A good debt counselor is very hard to find. You know your situation better than anyone so why not give it a try?

If you fail, at least your creditors will be aware of your situation so when they get a call from a debt counselor, they will already know that you are in trouble.

Debt consolidation can relieve you from some of the pressures of collectors. That is worth any effort as well.

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The more monthly payments you have the trickier life may get, and the need for debt consolidation help should be something to seriously consider.

Let’s take a brief look at the tips, tricks and traps of debt consolidation.

Debt Consolidation Can Lower Your Monthly Payment

The key benefits of consolidation loans are that you only have one monthly payment instead of many, and more than likely you can lower your payments as well.

For example, say someone has four credit cards and they are paying around $100 per month to each of them. By obtaining a debt consolidation loan, you can pay off all of these credit cards and combine them into one loan. The payments will be based on the total of the loan, which will be equal to the total of your balances on your credit cards.

Let’s say your new payment comes out to be about $300 a month. Now your are saving $100 per month, paying out $300 instead of $400, and now you only have one creditor to pay instead of having to send payments to four different companies every month.

Debt Consolidation Options

There are many debt consolidation companies doing business today that offer to consolidate credit card debt and consolidate loans of all types.  Home equity loans are available to consolidate debts, as well as personal loans.

Banks and finance companies usually will approve people for these types of loans more than not because of the fact that you will be saving money on your monthly payments as well as combining your bills into one.

Once You Consolidate Debt, Do Not Borrow Money

Credit card debt consolidation can be a tricky thing though, as most people don’t have the discipline to stop using their credit cards after their consolidation loan pays them off. Most of the time, the debt consolidation company will require that the credit cards being paid off be closed out, meaning those cards can no longer be used. However, this is not always the case, and even when it is, people can just apply for another credit card and likely get approved.

Once you consolidate credit cards you don’t want to fall into the trap of opening up more credit card debt, as this will make the consolidation loan meaningless.

Think about it.

You took out the consolidation loan to make life easier by having one payment and paying less each month. By opening up new credit cards you now owe them money and have to pay them monthly, and you still have to pay on your consolidation loan as well.

Now you will be in a worse position than you were before you consolidated your credit cards. This is something to keep in mind for anyone who ever considers consolidating their debt, and a pitfall that it is wise to avoid.

Conclusion:  Debt Consolidation Can Help You If You Are Disciplined

When you consolidate credit cards it should be a good thing. It should make your life easier and less stressful, as well as help you save money.

However, it is key to make sure you don’t fall into the trap of opening too much new debt, as you will find it could lead to some great financial trouble.

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What Is “Unsecured Debt?”

Secured loans are borrowed against collateral, such as your home, car and other possessions. If you file for bankruptcy, these assets are liquidated immediately in order to pay off your creditors. Unsecured debt is not borrowed against collateral but your credit rating can be severely damaged if your monthly minimum payments are not made on time every month.

Can Debt Consolidation Help?

When you find yourself in a difficult financial situation, you can begin to let your credit card payments and other unsecured debts slide. When this happens, you are typically charged usurious late fees and your credit score begins to crumble immediately. A solid debt consolidation program can help you to gain control of your finances by obtaining unsecured debt consolidation loans with which to pay off all of your creditors in one fell swoop.

Once your unsecured debt is paid off, the negative marks on your credit report will stop immediately. When you consolidate credit card debt, your various accounts are closed in good standing and your credit score receives an instant boost. Bill consolidation loans have a similar effect, as all of your creditors are paid off in full, which gets collectors off your back and signals to future creditors that you take your responsibility for repayment seriously.

When you consolidate loans with a reputable agency, your payments are all streamlined into a single monthly amount that is custom tailored to fit into your budget. This means that every month, as you make your consolidation loan payments on time, your credit score continues to improve.

Work with the Best

Bad credit debt consolidation companies are available in abundance, which means that you have a wide selection from which to choose. Make sure that you thoroughly research several different agencies before you settle on one with which to do business. Credit card debt consolidation companies charge differing fees for their services and it is important that you are made aware of all associated fees, interest rates and penalty charges before you enter into a contractual agreement.

Spend a fair amount of time talking in person with several different consolidation company representatives, in order to get a feel for each service and for what they have to offer. Choosing the best consolidation program available to you will pay off in the form of a simplified journey into financial freedom.

Conclusion:  Unsecured Debt Consolidation Loans

Unsecured debt consolidation loans can help you to stop the downward cycle of your credit score and can put you on the fast track to financial recovery. The streamlined repayment schedule available through most agencies can help to reduce your financial stresses and focus you attention on enjoying life, as you slowly but surely become debt free.

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The net result is that the payments are lower and more of each payment goes to principal reductions.

This form of debt management has been used by many borrowers to get debt help with credit consolidation.  Let’s take a look at a few of the factors to consider when contemplating a debit consolidation loan.

Important Debt Consolidation Loan Factors

There are three factors that affect the terms of debt consolidation loans.

These are the payment term, the interest rate and the monthly payment.  As each increases or decreases, it affects the other two factors involved with respect to the loan consolidation offer.

• If you want a small payment and low interest, you have to consolidate loans over a longer repayment term.
• If you want a short payment term, then you have to find a low interest rate and/or accept a higher monthly payment.
• If you can only find loans with high interest rates then you have to accept a longer repayment term and/or a high monthly payment .

Repayment Term. The amount of money borrowed will be the determining factor when calculating the repayment term.  If you have a large number of debts or high balances, then you will need a larger credit card consolidation loan to payoff and combine the multiple debts into one debt.  If you only have a few small debts then, obviously, the term of the credit card debt consolidation loan can be shorter with the same monthly payment.

Interest Rate. You need to take a good look at the interest rate on the debt consolidation loan.  The debt consolidator will offer a low monthly payment over a longer repayment term in order to mask the effect of high interest.  In fact, the high interest rate is the very reason the loan has to have such a long repayment term.  Otherwise, the monthly payments would be quite large.

Monthly Payment. If you want lower monthly payments, you are going to have to accept a longer repayment term and look for debt solutions that offer the lowest interest rate.  If you have a mediocre or bad credit score, the interest rate might be high and there will be little, if anything, that you can do about it.  So, the only way to get a lower monthly payment is to extend the term of the loan.

As you can see, you have to weigh each factor carefully to find the best debt consolidation loans for your needs.

Is A Debt Consolidation Loan The Best Option?

Owing money to a variety of different lenders can cause you to miss payments of collapse under the burden of the total payments required each month.

The biggest advantage when you consolidate debt is that you will pay one note to one lender and be able to calculate exactly when you will get out of debt.  These type of debt solutions allow you to regain control over your finances and ultimately get out of debt.

That being said, it is ultimately up to you to avoid falling back into the trap of credit card debt.

Learn from your mistakes or you will doomed to repeat them.

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These promises are incredibly inviting offers to those in our society most suffering under the burden of unemployment and staggering debt.  Unfortunately, many of those caught in this trap are left deeper in debt, without legitimate alternatives and nowhere to turn for help.

Do not let this be you!!!  If you are considering using debt consolidators to consolidate loans, watch out for these traps and pitfalls.

The Bad Credit Loan

Credit card consolidation loans (the good ones) are not easy to get.  This is because you probably need a debt reduction loan because you have missed a few payments on your credit cards and your credit score has taken a major hit.

If you are a credit risk, the debt consolidator will promise easy debt settlement, and you with a bad credit loan and paying high interest rates (higher than you are paying now).  Even though your monthly payment is lower, you will pay more interest over a longer period of time.

Debt Consolidators Will Take Care of Everything

The credit consolidation company promises to make your life easier by negotiating lower interest rates and payments.  You need only make one easy monthly payment.

Look For High Hidden Fees. In reality, many debt consolidators charge a fee as a portion of the payment you make.  This fee is usually around 10%. They forward the payments to the creditors and get an additional 10% to 15% from the creditor as well.  Is it really worth paying someone else to negotiate lower interest rates, stretch out your repayment schedule and pay off the highest-interest debts first?

They Might Make Late Payments. Another trick used by debt consolidators to separate you from more of your money is to negligently or intentionally make late payments.  The creditor charges a late fee, thereby increasing the balance.  The debt consolidator then stretches the repayment out over a greater period of time and charges you more months of processing fees.

Balance Transfers Can Be A Trap

Even though 0 interest credit card offers are still commonplace, those rates only last a few months.  If you want to continue paying low interest, you have to switch cards and pay another balance transfer fee.  I admit that I used to use these balance transfers for business debt consolidation.

There are two pitfalls to using balance transfers.

First of all, you have to have a good credit score to qualify.  Second, remember that each time you conduct a balance transfer for credit consolidation, the activity shows up on your credit report.  If you are unable to transfer the balance at the end of the initial term, you could be left with a high interest credit card and a large balance.

Just because you have made a few bad credit moves does not mean that you have to continue down that same path. Avoid quick fixes to your credit problems.  If you get into trouble, in most cases you can call the creditor and negotiate a better repayment plan, avoid unnecessary fees as well as the balance transfer trap.  You can do anything that a debt consolidator can do.

After all, I think it was Paul Harvey who once said that:

“No man can become debt free by making another loan.”

I agree.

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Many ultimately decide to consolidate debt with some sort means to consolidate credit card debt.  Debt consolidation requires the borrower to examine the type and amount of credit card debt before ultimately selecting the option that is right for his circumstances.

Often, borrowers realize that essentially they have a choice between a credit card balance transfer or a debt consolidation loan.  The advantages of one over the other depend mostly on the number of unsecured personal loans versus the amount of credit card debt and the borrowers’ credit score.

Interest Free Balance Transfer

An interest free balance transfer credit card is an short term debt consolidation solution.  At the end of the initial term, the consumer would have to search out another interest free credit card consolidation offer.  However, there are three problems in using short term balance transfers for credit card debt consolidation.

The 3-4% Balance Transfer Fee. If the consumer is lucky, the balance transfer fee would be capped at $50 to $75 dollars.  However, some credit card issuers have been removing the caps on balance transfer fees.

A Good Credit Score Is Essential. If the consumer has missed a payment or made a late payment on any other bill, credit card issuers are unlikely to approve the application.

The Interest Free Period Is Short. The consumer is betting that he or she will either be able to pay off the credit card debt before the end of the time period or transfer the remaining credit card balance to another interest free credit card.

As such, the interest free credit card should be reserved for those that can pay off the balance within six to twelve months.

Unsecured Debt Consolidation Loans

A long term alternative is to consolidate debt with a low interest debt consolidation loan.

The unsecured debt consolidation loan takes the complication out of credit card debt relief.  Consolidate loans in a way that combines many small balances and obligations to one with a (hopefully lower) monthly payment.

Even though it is not an in interest free credit card, the debt consolidator does get the advantages of (1) a single low monthly payment, (2) the positive credit entries showing all other debts as paid; and, (3) the inability to charge more, thereby never getting the debt paid.

Short Term Or Long Term Debt Consolidation Solution?

If you have a small amount of credit debt, then an interest free credit card is a good option for you.  But be prepared for a balance transfer fee and be able to produce a good FICO score.

For longer term solutions to credit card debt, then an unsecured debt consolidation loan is the preferable choice.  However, note that credit counseling services advise against using a HELOC to get out of debt.  The debt consolidator will be paying interest on impulse purchases for twenty to thirty years – and that makes no sense at all.

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