Business & Finance Debt

Credit Card Debt Management: Digging Yourself Out of the Hole

There has been a tendency over the last five years for the term debt management service to be more inclusive of the different types of debt.
So, if you, as so many others may have fallen behind and are fighting the mounting bills that come your way each and every month there is a good chance that an individual debt management service solution can be tailored to suit your particular situation.
There are many free debt management programs available that are designed to overcome the heavy burden of debt brought on by an accumulation of personal credit loans, medical bills, car payments, and skyrocketing utility bills.
It's a good chance that one of these will be the right fit you, so don't be to anxious to sign up for an additional expense with a debt management counselor.
Perhaps the biggest reason why credit cards are the main contributor to so many consumers' debt management problems is the ease of use and universal acceptance of credit cards.
You are encouraged to just swipe your credit card instead of paying for almost anything with cash.
In fact, many big-box stores have done away with some check-out clerks and have installed automatic check-outs stations where all you have to do is scan each item you purchase, and then punch another keypad to scan your credit card.
Instant debt! How easy.
The time could come when you find yourself against the wall and unable to meet the payments to repay your loans.
This can happen for any number of reasons.
You may lose your job; have a catastrophic medical emergency, a fire, and holdup, whatever.
But, before signing up with any debt management plan, call your credit card company or your bank, whoever you have your loans with.
Talk to their credit representative and find out if they would be willing to reset the clock on your past-due accounts by wiping out the record of missed and late payments if you sign up with a Debt Management Plan.
When you sign up with a debt management company, they will take over the servicing of your debts in return for a fee.
Credit counselors can really help with your debt management by offering a solution to your debt problems, cutting your repayments and relieving stress, but it has implications for your future credit worthiness, and care needs to be taken in choosing a company or organization to sign up with.
Advanced debt management services are a great fusion of well thought-out and hands-on solutions geared to help you clear up your debt and straighten out your credit worthiness.
A number of debt aid services are available from good debt management companies that will provide you with knowledgeable counseling regarding your credit, show you ways to keep a tight rein to your budget and help you get out of debt.
One good thing about debt management, or credit counseling, is that it will allow you to closely examine your spending habits.
This hopefully will point out your flaws and mistaken priorities if you have any.
It will help you to realize how you have got to change your spending habits.
The key to debt management is to work out manageable monthly payments that will permit you to preserve your credit rating and also to reduce your debt.
This can be an eye opener for you and maybe help you to shore up one of your most important character traits, fiscal responsibility.
It is well known that financial difficulties are one of the top reasons for discontent and breakups among couples, making credit debt management priorities one of the most important aspects in your life that could have and impact on everyone in you and your family.
One of the services that a credit repair service can offer is a reduced rate repayment rate on your outstanding balances.
They are able to accomplish this by the very nature of they business they are in.
But, the amount they are able to reduce your interest rate will be determined on their basis experiences they have had with your company and through the relationships they have established with your credit card company over the years.
Although it may seem that some creditors will have tightened or reduced their interest rates as far as possible for someone already working with a credit repair counselor, still some credit card companies will reduce rates further, some even charging you no interest so long as you are on the plan.
Furthermore, your credit counselor may be able to negotiate even lower monthly payments from creditors, or a substantial reduction in interest rates.
It is rare that the credit card company will forgo collection of late charges.
Any credit card company should have an obligation and a responsibility to provide an unimpeded Customer Service department to make your entire credit card history with that company accessible by the credit counseling agency you have chosen to work with.
Additionally, they should be able to answer in a timely fashion any questions you, or your counselors, may have regarding your accounts.
It is after all, in their best interest to recoup as much of your debt as possible and the best way to do this is to work with you and help you pay it off.
Many people and don't realize that even though the credit card companies usually specify a minimum payment due, you can pay more than the payment called for on your statement.
If you're flush with money when you get your bill from the credit card company you may of course repay the whole amount with one payment.
Never, except under the most dire circumstances, should you ever pay the suggested minimum payment.
This will guarantee a lifetime of expensive debt.
Another avenue you can explore when considering an alternate to a debt management service is a debt consolidation loan to totally cover your existing debts.
A debt consolidation loan may be feasible if you can borrow enough money to cover all of your outstanding credit card loans.
This would allow you to pay them all off in one shot and rid yourself of missed payments, high interest and the payment of late fees and other service charges.
You would have to structure the loan so that you would have enough money to pay off the remaining balances of each of your outstanding credit card loans, plus any outstanding fees, due and payable.
This new loan would have to be set up with lower interest rates and to stretch out the payments in order to make a lower and single affordable payment of your principal and interest that is below that of your current total monthly payments and fees.
You want to try to structure your new single payment so that it is made low enough to give you some breathing room and make life easier for you.
You don't want a new single loan with payments as high as what you are paying now- that makes no sense at all.
The longer you can stretch out your payments, the lower your total monthly payment will be, and that's what we are looking for.
Make no mistake about it; if you go this route, you are making this consolidation loan to help get yourself out of oppressive debt.
The only purpose of this loan should be to consolidate your existing debts into a single affordable loan with lower monthly payments and at a lower interest rate.
The lower the interest rate the better, and the longer the repayment period is, the better that is.
Once you get comfortable paying off this loan with a manageable schedule, you can increase the amount of your monthly payment and have the overpayment applied to the outstanding principal of your loan.
The quicker you pay off the principal, the quicker you will be out of debt.

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