If you’re fighting to get out of debt, it can feel like trying to push a watermelon through a keyhole. No matter how hard you try, you still have that big pile of debt facing you. You may even be receiving harassing phone calls from your lenders or from debt collectors or suffering physical problems due to the stress you’re experiencing.
Four flavors of debt consolidation
One tried and true way to get your debt under control or even eliminate it is through debt consolidation. There are four popular ways to do this. You could get a debt consolidation loan, work with a consumer credit counseling agency, get professional debt consolidation help or move all your high interest credit card debt to one with a lower interest rate.
Look before you leap
Before you choose debt consolidation as a way to get rid of your debts, you should go online and find a debt consolidation calculator. For example, Wells Fargo has one at https://www.wellsfargo.com/pi_action/DebtConsolidation. It’s very easy to use, takes only a few minutes and will provide some very helpful answers.
The way it works is that you type in information about each of your debts, including the type of debt, its APR, current balance and estimated monthly payment. You then click Calculate and the program will show you how much you could reduce your monthly payment through debt consolidation. It will also show you how much extra you would have to pay each month to get out of debt a year sooner – which will likely be much less than you might have thought.
What you would achieve with a debt consolidation loan
Since Wells Fargo is a bank, it would like to sell you something so will also show you what you could accomplish if you were to get its debt consolidation loan at 9.75%. For example, you would be able to pay off the loan in four years vs. the 13 years it would take you to pay off your debts if you didn’t consolidate them. You would save nearly $5,000 in interest, and your total payment (including interest) would be about $5,000 less.
One of the best things
One of the best things about this calculator is that you could use it to play some “what if” games such as changing the payoff from 48 to 60 or 72 months. You could also switch from Pay Off My Debt Faster to Lower My Monthly Payment to see how this would change things. As an example of this, if you were to change to Lower My Monthly Payment with the same information about your debts, you might see you could lower your payment by several hundred dollars –by getting a Wells Fargo Consolidation Line of Credit.
Other options
Of course, you don’t have to get a debt consolidation loan from Wells Fargo or any other financial institution. You could do what many families have done and choose consumer credit counseling. This is where you find a non-profit credit counseling agency and let it help you develop a debt management plan (DMP) for paying off your creditors. This can be a way to get out of debt without leaving a stain on your credit report but will probably take five years to complete. And that’s a long-term commitment, during which you have to be very careful not to take on any new revolving credit. Plus, you’ll have to give up all of your credit cards.
Professional debt consolidation
The alternative that thousands of families have chosen is to let us do debt consolidation for them. Our debt consolidation providers offer a simple 100% satisfaction guarantee. We’re so sure we can help you become you debt-free in a reasonable amount of time that if you’re ever unsatisfied with the debt relief programs we recommend, you can cancel at anytime without any penalties or fees.
Call our toll-free number today for more details or fill in the form you’ll find on this page for a free estimate.