No House, Alot of Debt, What Do You Do?
If you have a great amount of debt, especially if its mostly from high interest credit cards or store accounts, youd typically get a debt consolidation loan. This would give you one monthly payment instead of many different payments. Because the interest rate is much lower than the debts youre paying off, the monthly payment is dramatically reduced. The reason the interest rate for a debt consolidation loan is so low is because its a secured loan. This means you have collateral, typically a home or other real estate, securing the loan. Because the lender has collateral for the loan, their risk is much lower and that is reflected in the interest rate.
So what if youve got no home or real estate to use for collateral? Can you still get a debt consolidation loan? Well, you may have several solutions. One debt consolidation solution for people who dont own a home, but still have good credit, is to use no interest credit cards. Many people get these type of offers in the mail every week. You can transfer the balance from one or more credit cards onto a new credit card. For the promotional period, usually 6 months to 2 years, youll pay no interest on the transferred balance. That functions like a debt consolidation loan.
Make sure you cancel all or most of the old credit cards and examine your spending habits. This will help to keep you from getting into a dangerous credit situation. This can easily arise when you have the new card with a healthy balance that you transferred over, and all your old cards still active. If you start to accrue a balance on the old cards, youll soon find yourself in a situation where you have multiple cards with large balances in addition to the new card with the debt that you transferred. Its worth mentioning again. Make sure you thoroughly examine your spending habits to ensure you dont just spiral deeper into debt by adding a new credit card.
Another alternative, if you are really in a bind and dont own a home, is credit counseling. Credit counseling can get you a debt management solution that can allow you to become debt free within a certain period of time. A good credit counselor will work with you to develop a personal financial plan that lets you maximize the use of you money. You can do more with your current income and get yourself out of debt. They will also look into the future to assist you in planning for the future, so you have a financial contingency plan in the event of an emergency. In a worst case scenario, they will work with creditors to negotiate different payment schedules or decreased credit balances.
If you need a debt reduction or consolidation solution but you dont own a home, do not despair. There is a solution for your problems. You can get out of debt without sacrificing everything. You may have to tighten up a bit, but youll get through it with a little guidance.
Find out more about how to consolidate you debt, how to go about it, and if you should even considerthe alternative in the first place. There's a wealth of great debt and loan consolidation information to help you at the Loan and Debt Consolidation Guide
