Don't Hurt Your Credit Score When You Combine Your Credit Card Debt?

By Layla Vanderbilt

Debt consolidation companies are everywhere and many of them can actually make a deal with your credit card companies to substantially lower or eliminate the debt you have built up by using your credit cards. As you consider working with a debt consolidation firm, you have good reason to worry that your credit score may be made worse in the process. If your debt-to-income ratio is too high, your credit score may be so adversely affected that potential lenders will pass you up just when you need another loan in the future.

Many people suffer from the huge problem of Credit card debt. When people borrow loans and stop paying without response the interest grows astronomically. The interest rates for the cards are high and impossible to pay away. You will only pay thousands of dollars as interest and never pay off your overall balance.

Consolidating your credit card debt has the potential to negatively affect your credit score. Your score will lower if your payments are late or behind. Consolidating is still a good option if there is no other way you can make the payments on time.

When your credit scores are negatively impacted, you can pay the debts for a lower amount through consolidation companies which will help you by taking the case on your behalf, but your credit score will be lowered. Since the future purchases are in consideration, most people tend to avoid consolidation techniques.

A debt consolidation loan has a lower rate than a credit card debtor. You save money on interest payments and thereby can pay your debt off faster. Some consumers may have enough money to make a payment larger than required and pay the loan off early.

Stop and think about your whole financial picture before you jump into the first opportunity that arises to consolidate your credit card debt. A company may offer to intervene and get the amount you owe negotiated down, but that method may also affect your ability to borrow again for a long, long time. Down the road you may need another loan for a good purpose, but you'll likely be charged higher interest rates--and that's if you can get approved for the loan at all. A short-term ?fix? may be very costly in the long run.

Overall, while debt consolidation may save you money in the present, it has the potential to impact your credit score in a negative way. If you are planning on making any large purchases in the near future, alternative options should be considered. However, if you are not concerned with your credit score at this time, and only want to pay off your debts quickly, then credit card debt consolidation may be a good option. - 31377

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Investigating Current Rates And Fees On Flexible Mortgages

By Chris Channing

A flexible mortgage is a type of mortgage prevalent in European countries. It is a bit more dynamic than the conventional mortgage found in the United States, in that it allows borrowers to pay what they can each billing cycle.

You can easily skip payments with a flexible mortgage, but you still have to pay the interest associated with the time period you wish to skip. That way lenders still get their dividends, and the home owner is allowed a break in paying off the mortgage when other finances arise. Interest rates don't amount to a great number, so nearly everyone can keep their home even when in financial danger.

The threat of losing your house just because you come up a few dollars short one month is incredibly frightening- the stuff of nightmares even! Flexible mortgages do allow some borrowers to only pay for interest in some plans, if they should so need to. Interest-only payments might not allow borrowers to make progress on repayment, but they offer comfort in knowing that such low payments can be afforded even in times of need.

Flexible mortgage rates employ variable rates on average. A variable interest rate depends on market conditions to calculate the total owed for the time period specified. Variable interest rates are best used when market conditions are predicted to take a downturn for lenders, but look prominent for borrowers. Otherwise you may wish to lock in rates with a fixed-rate flexible mortgage loan.

In some cases, you might not even have to pay anything at all by taking a payment holiday. A payment holiday is a period of time in which you are not obligated to make any payments at all. This allows you to keep your home in dramatic situations such as losing your job and having debts. Payment holidays have limitations, but when used correctly can avert disaster that would otherwise devastate your life.

A good credit rating is required for flexible mortgages. That's because flexible mortgage loans are so easily abused by those who have a poor history of responsible financial decisions. If you would wish it, you could get by only making minimal interest payments indefinitely. It might allow you to get by and have fun, but it would ultimately put you in more debt than you could imagine.

Final Thoughts

There is nothing wrong with relying on the advantages of a flexible mortgage- so long as you know how to stay responsible financially. Talk to a flexible mortgage broker to see if you can qualify for such mortgages, or even if you should apply. - 31377

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4 Ways To Improve Your Debt Problem Right Now

By Fred Jones

Just about everybody would like to reduce their debt in some fashion. Either they'd like to reduce interest rates on their current debt or even be able to reduce their debt completely. Being able to lower debt to a manageable level or wipe it out altogether would be goal that many people would like to accomplish. However, many people either don't know how to get started with lowering their debt or they don't know that they can. The following are four ways to improve your debt situation right now.

First plan of action is to make a budget. I know this sounds like an old hat, but it's true and is very helpful. How can a person be able to reduce their debt if they are not sure how much they have or where they can make adjustments. Having as accurate budget of all income as well as all outgoing expenses will help show some areas where things can be either improved or updated to make it easier to manage.

A accurate budget will consist of all monies that come in on a regular basis, as well as all debt that is paid out regularly. In addition, it's also good to document on the budget the rates of interest for each of the debt as well as any fees or penalties for paying late or going over the limit. In addition, make notes on any early payoff fees so that you don't end up paying more for paying off the debt. Looking at a budget with these details will help to determine which items need to get paid off first and which ones can be on a longer cycle. Obviously, the debt with higher interest rates should be paid off first, followed by lower interest rate debt. This will help save a lot of money over the course of the debt.

The next tip would be to call current debt accounts and see if there are any opportunities to reduce interest rats. Looking at the previous item, its good to pay off higher interest rate debt, and since this helps to save money, it's also a good idea to try to reduce the rate while still paying on it. Many debt accounts will offer some reduction for account holders that are in good standing so if you know you've paid on time for a long period it doesn't hurt to try and reduce interest rates on current debt accounts.

The third option to reduce debt right now is to pay over than the minimum owed. We'd all like to pay more, but that isn't always an option. However, looking at the plan made earlier, it might be good to look at some things that can be cut back on so that more money can go to lowering debt. This will help save lot of money over the course of the debt and help to lower the debt owed today. It might mean lowering the number of times a person eats out each month, or the entertainment that they regularly see, but in the end it will save more money to cut back now and reduce debt today.

The 4th way to reduce debt is to consolidate debt into lower interest rates. There are new promo offers all the time from credit card companies and other credit facilities, and there are times when consolidating several debt accounts into one can actually reduce the debt owed right away. For example, having 3 higher interest rate cards or balances on credit accounts can be lower to just 1 lower interest rate account, which in turn can save hundreds of dollars in debt.

These 4 tips for reducing debt today can help you get started on lowering your debt now and most people have the tools and information to accomplish these goals on their own. However, there are some reliable professional debt services that can also help reduce debt, settle debt, or consolidate debt into a manageable finance option. Debt will always be around, but it doesn't have to be a big part of a person's life. - 31377

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Credit Cards Balance Transfers And How They Can Save Or Make You Money.

By Thomas Goldman

Credit cards balance transfers made to new credit cards which have a 0% initial interest rate can be beneficial in two typical ways. One approach can save you a lot of money on existing debt, and the other approach can make you "free money"!

The first approach is for people with balances on credit cards which are charging interest. If you transfer those balances to credit cards which charge zero interest (for an initial period) then you avoid having to pay any interest on those balances, so you can use all the repayments to pay down the balances themselves rather than paying any interest.

The second of these methods functions by transferring the available funds from the new 0% interest account into some form of savings account where you accumulate a profit. This approach has sometimes even been used for other types of investment with more risk such as business ideas. This can result in high profits when successful but with 90% of new businesses failing it is obviously extremely risky and should usually be avoided.

So zero-interest credit cards can be used in either of those ways, to increase your financial progress. Some zero interest cards only apply zero interest to purchases, some only to balance transfers, and some to both. Also, some cards charge a different rate of interest on any cash withdrawals, and sometimes charge interest on cash from the time it is received rather than the billing date, and additionally sometimes apply any repayments to anything else before the cash balances.

The initial period for which there is zero interest can also be variable and can even be applied with different periods to different categories of borrowing.

It is wise to carefully check all the details of a card and make sure you understand them well before you consider obtaining a new account.

Credit cards balance transfers, it used wisely and sensibly can be of great benefit to a persons finances as this article has shown, so see how you can use one to your benefit, soon! - 31377

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Learn How to Get Out of Debt Today with Freedom Debt Management

By John Case

We all know the importance of having credit. Without it, many of the things in our lives would not be there. For example, you would probably not have that nice television in your living room without credit.

When the supply of credit in an economy gets too big it actually creates problems. When credit is easy to obtain, poor spending habits can develop very quickly. There is a great demand for assistance in dealing with credit card debt problems. Fortunately, there is a company that can meet this demand.

Fortunately, there is a service called Freedom Debt Management to help you with all your debt needs. Freedom Debt Management has been around for quite some time and has a great reputation for helping those in need. In fact, most of their clients are debt free within two years of the start of the debt program.

So what exactly does this company do for you? Well, to start things off they offer free counseling to evaluate where you stand financially. They are calm and they take the time to figure out exactly what your needs are. At the end of the session, they will tell you what services they can offer you and will ask if you would like to sign up with their program.

So how can this company help me specifically? Freedom Debt Management has vast amounts of experience working with both you and your creditors. Their experience will ensure that you will get a better result than if you tried to do it all alone.

What else can they do? Freedom Debt Management can also help to reduce the total amount of debt that you owe. This is advantageous to both parties because the creditor recovers some of the money that is owed to them and you get some relief on the amount of money you have to pay.

Sometimes people feel totally overwhelmed and embarrassed about their debt. This is definitely not the right attitude to have because most people are in a similar position as you. Remember that you are not alone in your struggle.

Freedom Debt Management can be just the thing you need to get out of debt for good. If you have tried other companies in the past with no success, do not give up. Freedom Debt Management is different. Give them a chance to prove this to you and you will be thrilled with the results. - 31377

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Simple Terms For Debt Consolidation

By Maria Charles

There are many of you out there who do not understand even the basics of debt consolidation. If you do not understand it you might find that you are missing out. Some people learn of this option all too late and therefore, it cannot help them any longer as they have done the inevitable. Let us help you to understand what debt consolidation is and how it works.

With these hard times, many people are trying to find the best way to have to pay less. They are finding that they are getting interest rates that are extremely high. Therefore, they are looking into this method. This can be used for a number of types of loans.

What exactly is debt consolidation? That is quite simple to explain. What this is is when you take the loans that you have. What you do is lump them all together so that really you have one that you need to pay on. This takes the burden of having to come up with all that money at different times. It is one sum that you have to pay.

What happens when you do debt consolidation is that as mentioned you get a loan that puts all these loans together. You then pay on that loan. This normally gives you a lower interest rate. Then you have one larger sum to pay, but it is going towards paying it off nevertheless.

Another thing that this has done when it comes to mortgages is that it has helped some from going seriously into debt. Just how much debt you ask? Some were being faced with foreclosure or having to claim bankruptcy. Both of these scenarios can hinder your credit and not just for a short amount of time. We are talking years.

So, if you are paying on more than one loan, then see if this is something that you can do. It never hurts to look into it. Take our word for it. Many have saved big time by doing this. This is true of students paying back student loans as well. - 31377

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Customers Beware Of Debt Consolidation Loans

By Mike Pettigrew

Loans may not always offer the best solution to your financial problems, and there are many hidden dangers which could ultimately make your current situation worse, not better. Beware of Debt Consolidation Loans because often times these programs will only provide short term relief without offering consumers long term help with their debt. Once in a while it may be acceptable to pursue your needs for special loans to help get out of debt, but overall it is best to work with other programs that will both change your credit habits and reduce your total amount of money owed.

A debt consolidation loan is structured in such a way that it takes your existing debt, which can be owed to various lenders, credit card companies, retail stores, school loans, car companies and mortgage holders and pays off all of those debts with one new bigger loan, which totals the amount of all the other loans.

For example, if you owed $10,000 on 3 credit cards, $5000 on a car, and $20,000 on school loans, you could get a single debt consolidation loan to pay off all these other amounts, and owe $35,000 to one company. While this may initially be appealing, there are many hidden dangers and traps for the consumer, and benefits for the credit card and lending companies.

The most appropriate solution would be a change in the way of how an individual deals with his financial means. More debts means more problem. The graveness of the problem can result to frustration and legal actions. Mind you that this kinds of loans have produce fees that makes it impossible to pay.

As mentioned most of plans have ends up as failure due to long repayment schemes. This allows the creditors and lending companies gain more than your agreed terms. Another reason would be this loan also has hidden fees that are not disclose during the application process. This can post as a source of concern on the borrowers part making him more prone for bankruptcy.

Of course the lending companies would not agree to handle your concern without gaining anything from you. Sometimes it is queer how others overlook this matter. They are all in a rush into paying debts ending more in peril. Business is business whichever we put it. They gain from you that is why they wanted to handle your case.

The goal is not attained in this manner. The added interest rates, hidden fees and unsound terms could increase the possibility of not paying in time. Bills maybe consolidated however you pay more than less. Avoid spending too much and be aware of the due dates on your bill. Have a notebook handy to jot down all those expenses and see the difference.

Debt management plans are more suitable for any individual. True enough it is almost the same as the latter loan however the difference would be the terms of repayment. It is much shorter and realistic. You would have to go under counseling to resolve the issue. It would be best for a borrower to get an advice from the expert to come up with a better plan that will suit the budget. - 31377

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