Friday, September 5, 2008

Debt - not just another four letter word...


Debt. Many of us have it. It might be the kind of debt most people have (mortgage, car payments, student loans, etc...) or it could be from credit cards or other unsecured loans. Either way, debt is not really a good thing.

With our economy the way it is, many people are looking for ways to relieve the strain on their checking accounts and reduce the amounts of the payments they have each month. With so much information out there, it's sometimes overwhelming to even TRY to figure out where to start.

At Bills.com, you can find some really useful information that can help you to decide an option that might be right for your situation. You can access the site by clicking here: consolidate debt

Obviously, before you make any decision, you should investigate your choices thoroughly. Say you have a lot of equity in your home, pretty good credit, and a lot of small bills (like credit cards, car loans, etc), you might want to consider a home refinance. In many cases, you can actually end up paying less each month, PLUS having all of your other bills paid off.

Maybe you need to do a large home improvement project. Perhaps a home equity loan would work for you. These are something to be cautious of, since you don't want to end up in a worse financial situation then when you started!!

If you don't own your home, but have a lot of debt that you need to pay off, sometimes debt settlement or credit counseling will help. These options will have a more adverse affect on your credit, so if you have good credit, these may not be a good choice for you. Of course, if your credit is already suffering because of a lot of debt, credit counseling might work for you.

The Bills.com website offers a wealth of information for many credit and debt circumstances, as well as a list of useful terms that will help you understand just what you are reading. In these trying times of higher prices and lower wages, it really can pay to be an educated consumer.

Because of the housing market these days, a home refinance or home equity loan might not be a good choice for everyone. Sometimes credit counseling programs can actually do more harm to your credit report than good, so be wary of those. Debt settlement can be good if you have just a TON of debt and are just looking to make the smallest payments possible.

Of course, the best thing would be to avoid any unecessary debt in the first place, but sometimes you just can't help it. Bills.com appears to be a good place to go when you need a solution. Of course, I am NOT a financial advisor, so please examine any program you are considering VERY CAREFULLY!!

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