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Archive for Personal debt

Should You Consider Debt Consolidation Loans

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

So many of us today are rather deep in debt.  We owe money to various credit card companies, we owe money on car loans, and we owe money on any number of other personal loans.  Unfortunately, this can be a big problem in the current economic climate.  A good number of people now find themselves struggling to make their bill payments each month.  Falling behind on these payments can have lasting consequences.  Fortunately, debt consolidation loans may be able to help.

You may be wondering what debt consolidation is.  In general terms, it is a type of loan that is intended to help you pay off your other loans.  The lender offering the debt consolidation loan gives you a certain sum of money, and that money is used to pay off the various credit card balances and other personal loans that you owe.  Therefore, you then only owe money to the lender who made the debt consolidation loan.

Obviously, this can be advantageous for a number of reasons.  One reason is that it can simply reduce the anxiety that you face when you have several creditors hounding you for money.  It can be an enormous relief to have those many creditors paid off so that they will not be bothering you anymore.  In addition, debt consolidation loans are often cheaper in the end that credit cards or other personal loans.  Credit cards are well-known for having high interest rates.  If you can pay off these cards with a lower interest rate loan, then you will save yourself some money.

Finally, debt consolidation loans can help you keep your credit score from being damaged.  These loans can keep several lenders from reporting to the major credit reporting agencies that you are behind on payments which may keep your credit score from falling.

Posted in Debt Consolidation, Loans, Personal debt | No Comments »

Be Free Of Personal Debts With Our 7 Step Plan

Thursday, October 1st, 2009
by Mark Walters

The level of personal debt accumulated has never been so high. Financial problems are the leading cause of divorce, depression and any other number of crushing personal problems. Imagine the weight that could be lifted off your shoulders should you be able to realize the dream of debt free living.

I’m deep in the middle of the mid-life years and for many of my previous years I knew nothing besides living in constant debt. The burden that put on my emotions, psychological well being and relationships was immense and I can never go back and re-live those years. I would like for you to not have to go through that same pain and so below I have laid out how to achieve debt free living in 7 (not necessarily easy) steps.

1. Realize you need to change. Keeping the same bad habits will only result in the same problems repeating themselves.

2. What’s your current position? Spend some time noting down all your current debts, what your current assets are, and your total monthly income and total monthly expenses (cash flow).

3. Where would you like to be? This is the time for some serious soul searching. Don’t spend time on little items but really ask yourself – What are my core values? What am I seeking in life? Use these as your defining goals and make every decision from here on around those goals.

4. What are your options? Everyday you’re faced with decisions which affect both new streams of income and how you spend your money.

5. Decide on your options. Take step 4 and make the hard decision that need to be made. Second job? Internet business? Cancel your cable TV subscription? Use your cell phone less? These are the hard decisions you need to make.

6. Create a plan. Having made your decisions, set them down in writing. Then you’ll have something to refer to when making the daily decisions that are necessary to meet your long term goals.

7. Stay focused. Regularly analyze the progress you’re making and find ways to reward yourself for small successes along the way. Tweak the things that do not seem to be working. Before long you’ll be financially free in way that many can only dream about.

About the Author:
Find Out More : 7 Steps Debt Free

Posted in Personal debt | No Comments »

What affects your credit rating

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

There’s a lot of confusion about credit ratings amongst people seeking personal loans and other forms of credit.

Many people believe – wrongly – that a credit record shows whether a lender has refused credit. This is not the case. Every time you apply for credit a ‘footprint’ is created on your credit record to show other financiers what you have been up to, but no record is immediately made as to whether you took up an offer, or whether it was refused.

One thing that varies from lender to lender is ‘how much is too many?’ Most of us are familiar with the concept that lenders looking at a credit record showing multiple applications may – quite rightly – view this as a sign of someone desperately seeking credit. As this is rarely the sign of a good potential client, many lenders will turn this applicant down on principal.

But how much is ‘too many’ when it comes to applications. Lenders will obviously vary, according to their criteria, but a flag usually goes up if more than four applications have been made at any one time. If the applications are spread across a period of months, the lender will be more lenient.
Another factor that people misunderstand about their credit rating is how much stability affects their core rating.

When you apply for credit – be it a mortgage, a credit card or a personal loan – the lender wants to know more than anything that you will be able to repay. The greater the risk perceived, the higher the interest rate charged, which is why bad credit loans can be so expensive.

Factors affecting this can be whether you are married – a sign of committment – whether you are registered as a voter, how many times you have moved house and even how many times you have moved job.

Someone who is seen as high risk is not necessarily someone with a history of missed repayments and ccjs, but maybe someone who has jumped from job to job, moved house or town many times and generally shown a lack of stability.

So, if you’re wondering why you weren’t offered the best rates available on the loan you wanted, you may need to look deeper than you thought.

Posted in Bad Credit, Borrowing, Consumer Credit, Consumer debt, Credit Card, Credit record, Debt management, Homeowner Loans, interest rates, Missed payments, Personal debt, Personal loans, Property, Secured loans, Tenant loans, UK Finance, Unsecured loans | No Comments »

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