Thursday, July 9, 2009

What to Do You Do When Debt Consolidation Goes Wrong

Debt consolidation loans are available for almost anyone wanting to roll all their debts together into one loan. The benefits include paying off other outstanding debts, reducing your interest rate charges, and wiping clean any overdue accounts you might have had.

It’s relatively easy for almost anyone to apply for a debt consolidation loan and in recent times, the benefits have been advertised widely by many lending companies and brokers.

Lending money is a lucrative business for banks, lenders, and brokers alike. When any business advertises products available, they focus on the benefits and the features. They want the products to sound good and they want your business.

But what about the potential for negative side effects?

Debt consolidation loans aren’t always the quick-fix solution that people might believe.

The biggest problem consumers find after they’ve consolidated their debts and begun payments on their new consolidation loan is that they haven’t considered the reasons they got into such a financial mess in the first place.

Bad spending habits are the main cause of high consumer debt levels in America today. Many people live beyond their means and spend much more money than they earn each week.

This shortfall between income and expenses is usually covered by the availability of quick, easy credit. Advertising sales pitches are so slick and so convincing that it’s easy to fall into the debt cycle without knowing you’ve done it.

Before you know it, you could have several credit cards, personal loans, car loans, or student loans. Easy credit is so tempting and so readily available, the only time many people realize they’re in over their heads is when payments are due and they can’t access any more credit.

Debt consolidation loans then become a major focus for people in this situation because of the promise of being able to get rid of all those outstanding debts and the relief of dealing with just one easy repayment each month.

Unfortunately, without first fixing the bad spending habits that got you into trouble in the first place means it won’t be long before another surprise bill or repair expense crops up.

People are creatures of habit. Faced with the prospect of being unable to pay the new bill and completely forgetting about the new debt consolidation loan that was once their financial savior, many people will simply apply for a new credit card and begin the vicious credit cycle all over again.

If you plan to apply for a debt consolidation loan to fix all your credit problems, be very aware that you’ll also need to fix your own bad spending habits in order to benefit from it.

Before leaping into a debt consolidation loan, take some time to work through a realistic budget and be sure you’ll be able to afford your new payments as well as put a little aside to help with unexpected bills. This way, you’ll avoid falling into the same credit trap again in the future!


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