Learn Before Your Leap into a Debt and Bill Consolidation Loan

Regardless of the time of year there never seems to be enough money to go around. If it isn’t the holidays, it’s your niece’s birthday or mother’s day. Just having enough money to cover your bills is challenging enough. If this sounds familiar, take comfort in knowing that you’re not alone. One possible solution is to look into a debt and bill consolidation plan.

Personal loans and credit cards most often have higher interest rates than a debt and bill consolidation loan. Basically, what you do is combine your debt and bills so that you have one monthly payment with a lower interest rate. There are a few things that you must get in order before applying for a debt and bill consolidation loan.

First things first, gather all the statements for every bill and debt you want to consolidate. Start a list and include; payoff balance, the current payment installment, interest rate charged by each company and when you will get each debt paid off at the current rate. Obviously the needed debt and bill consolidation loan will be the sum of your debts.

Before securing a loan, you will need to first consider which type fits your financial situation. You can apply for a personal loan, get a home equity loan or the popular choice of refinancing your mortgage. A comparison of each loan type will highlight their individual advantages and disadvantages.

Do you want to prolong the payoff date of your home? Or maybe that doesn’t bother you if it means consolidating all of your bills and debts. Refinancing an existing mortgage or applying for a home equity loan will push the payoff date further, but you can sometimes get the most money with these loans. A major disadvantage to remember is that you are using your home as collateral. If you have a problem making payments on your new mortgage loan then you could lose your home. However, with one of these two loan types you do get an annual tax break.

If using your home as collateral makes you uneasy, look into a personal loan. A personal loan for debt and bill consolidation will usually carry a higher interest rate than home equity or mortgage refinance loans. With a personal unsecured loan, the money loaned is based solely on your credit report. Depending on how much you need and what you’re comfortably securing your loan against, any of the three loan options may work.

The desire to lower current payments and get out of debt can be overwhelming. But before committing, you’ll need to check a few key thing.

With the list you made earlier double check that the interest rate is indeed lower than what you’re currently paying. Will the new loan be paid off sooner, in more time or about in equal time if you didn’t consolidate your loans? The best way to decide what you need to do is to get all your current financials together and then learn what options are available to you. You will learn more about your finances, how to better mange them and that may include a debt and bill consolidation loan.