What Are the Best Ways to Consolidate My Debt?

'What is the best way to consolidate my debt?', is a question that gets asked all too often in the offices of financial institutions, and the answer will vary to reflect each individual case and financial situation.

In order to find the right cure it is imperative to have all the details of the illness; so the first step you need to take is to list EVERY debt you have, no matter how small or trivial and the status of that debt; for example, if you are a month behind or up to date but have missed a payment in the past and so forth.

You need to arrange this list in order of seriousness: This doesn't necessarily mean the largest debt to the smallest but rather debts that you have faltered on and are in danger of having court proceedings started against you. These are deemed more serious than an up to date mortgage payment for example, but for safety sake any loan you have, that is secured against your home, you should really deem a higher priority than any unsecured debt.

The next step is to compile your monthly budget; income and expenditure, and don't leave anything off this list, you want the clearest picture possible of your situation. The objective of this is to instantly show you whether your current repayments are affordable or not. The chances are that if you are having to compile this list you have less coming in than is going out and if this isn't the case then it may be needed that you cut back on personal spending, whatever the outcome, consolidating debt will improve your situation.

There are two routes you can take; you can either have a company manage your debt for you or, you can replace all your debt with a singular loan.

The first option is called a debt settlement program and what happens is that a third intermediary body, a debt management service provider, will act on your behalf to negotiate better repayment terms with your creditors then manage the repayment of these creditors by asking you to pay them a single set amount each month that they then distribute to your creditors accordingly.

The pros of this type of consolidation are that you do not have to go through a loan application process and that you have the piece of mind that all your debts are being paid on time (as long as you continue to make payment to the management service that is). The downside is that you are relinquishing total control of your finances to a third party but more importantly the agreements negotiated by the debt management company with your creditors are not necessarily going to avoid your creditors taking legal action against you for non payment.

Your second option is the debt consolidation loan. This is a loan that is used to settle all of your debt and can be either secured or unsecured.
The benefits of a consolidation loan are that you can reduce your monthly payments quickly and substantially and you keep overall control of your finances and your credit score will be less damaged than it would be with a debt settlement program. The negatives are; that you may end up paying more for your debt in the long run and it is certainly more difficult to get a loan than to be accepted onto a debt settlement program.

So, the answer to, 'what are the best ways to consolidate my debt?', are either consolidation settlement or loan, as your personal situation will dictate as to which of these is best for you.

Should you be in the position where you are looking at consolidation, for no matter what reason there are secret methods of debt elimination that the credit card companies and the banks have known about for years that would have a detrimental effect on their profits should they be used 'en masse'. These methods, when used with a debt consolidation loan, could clear substantial amounts of debt in as little as three years perfectly legally and ethically, and without increasing payments.

Find out more by visiting the sites linked to at the end of this article.