Friday, March 21, 2008

4 Fatal Mistakes to Avoid When Applying for Debt Consolidation Loans

Setting Unrealistic Goals
Before you set out to apply for a debt consolidation loan, consider the goals you're trying to meet and think realistically when you're doing so. How much do you make every month? How much do you spend? How much could you reasonably afford to pay every month to pay off your debt? How long do you want to give yourself to pay off the loan?
These are all things that you should be considering before you go ahead and apply for a debt consolidation loan. If you set your goals too high or simply are not reasonable when you're making your goals, you may be setting yourself up for failure and may even end up hurting yourself more in the long run.
Providing Too Little Information
Anytime you apply for a debt consolidation loan, the consolidation company will ask you a series of questions pertaining to your financial well-being. What is your income? How much do you spend on expenses every month? Do you have children? Do you rent or own? The answers to all of these questions help the firm to design a plan that will allow you to work your way out of debt.
However, if you fail to answer any of these questions truthfully or simply don't answer them at all, you may be putting yourself at risk. The company may fail to put the right plan together or may just not be able to help you at all. Provide as much information as possibly initially to avoid any confusion later.
Trusting the Wrong Company
Always watch your own back when it comes to debt consolidation. There are thousands of debt consolidation companies out there, many that are illegitimate and only out for a quick buck. Do your research and find a company that will help you and not just be there to collect fees for you.
Ask someone in your family or a close friend if they have ever consolidated a loan. Can they recommend you to someone or tell you more about how they chose their debt consolidator? This could prove to be very valuable information later on down the line.
Missing Payments
One of the worst things you can do during debt consolidation after you apply and receive a loan is to miss a payment. In many cases, companies have tailor-made a plan for you to help you pay off your debt. They've negotiated with your credit card company for you and gotten you a much lower interest rate. But, if you miss a payment, you're proving that you cannot handle the loan.
Always make your payments on time to avoid extra penalties or losing your membership in the debt consolidation program. It is also a great way to make sure that you keep moving towards financial freedom.
Worried about sending your personal information to a debt consolidation company? Some helpful tips to help you avoid making a BIG mistake.
Dometri Quick is the development director at DebtConsolidationSupport.com. You can find more articles for helping you eliminate credit card debt at http://www.debtconsolidationsupport.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dometri_Quick

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Debt Management Plan - Your Shield Against "Harassing" Creditors

A debt consolidation loan, under a debt management plan, is aimed at minimising your monthly financial outgoings. The minimisation of your pending debt is done after the debt consolidation agency holds meetings with your creditors. This meeting is aimed at reducing and if possible, eliminating the mounting fees and charges and obtaining fee waivers. After the settlement is made between the agency and the creditors, all of your debts will be consolidated into a single and affordable payment. In this way, you can easily pay off all the debts within a short span of time.
A good debt management program is an efficient way to take care of all the debt problems. Let us have a brief look at what things are undertaken by a debt management agency. The debt management advisors carry a thorough assessment of your financial situation and work out a suitable repayment plan for you besides offering debt counselling. This counselling will help you to manage your financial affairs in a far much better way. They also give their level best to minimise the interest rate and eliminate the repayment penalties, if any.
Your credit history is not affected in any way when you join a debt management program. The agency which is looking after the debt management plan will ensure that you are duly intimated about your account progress in the form of monthly statements depicting the payments received.
Now that we have studied much about the debt loans, debt management programs and agencies, let us now have a look at the debt management UK. As per a recent eminent market study, it was revealed that almost 75-80 percent of the customers in the UK have availed or planning to avail the services of debt management agencies to reduce or eliminate their owed debt. Now that the debt management has been taken care of, let us have a look at some valuable tips to ensure that the life is managed smoothly.
You must however make sure that you do not adopt the same spending habits and stay away from falling in the same trap. If you have any doubt about the functionality and credibility of the agency, you can seek advice from individuals who have been the beneficiaries of their debt management program or an unbiased advice from an impartial professional expert.
These agencies looking after your debt loans ensure that things do not go worse anymore besides ensuring a consistent and smooth management of the financial affairs. They also make sure that the creditors do not make harassing calls to you.
Thus it can be easily concluded that these Debt management plans help a financially burdened individual to lead a debt free life besides helping him to stay away from tempting debt offers.
For more information about loans: Online unsecured loans , Understanding more about unsecured loans
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Samantha_Bonsu