Many people who are in financial difficulty will take the step of applying for a loan. If you have a problem with cashflow, facing a sudden bill or expense which exceeds what you can afford in the short term, then getting a loan may be a sensible and mature way to handle the situation. For others, however, taking out a loan may not be the right decision. For those who have large amounts of debt, or who fear that they do not fully understand the implications of debt, it is important that they find a way to receive sound debt advice.
In the US, there are many credit counseling companies who will help those who are in debt crisis by drawing up a Debt Management Plan and monthly Budget so that you can better handle your financial affairs. They negotiate with your creditors for you in order to better structure the way you repay your debts and can help get your payments, fees and interest rates reduced. It’s often possible to reduce payments up to 20% in this way. They can also help consolidate your loan repayments into one monthly payment.
When choosing a credit counseling company it is important to make sure that they are the real deal. One of the best ways of doing this is to check them out online, look for reviews of their services by other customers and see how they stack up against their competitors. These companies make a profit from reducing your payments whilst taking a cut and different companies will charge you different amounts. To figure out which is offering the best deal for you, you’ll need to figure out how much you are paying to them and take into account the quality of service you are receiving in return.
These services are only available to those who are in debt crisis, though, and finding debt advice if you are not is an entirely different deal. There are many Citizens Advice organizations who will help you to budget and understand the terms of any loans you are agreeing to. There are also many books you can buy about how to structure your financial commitments and many online support forums dedicated to helping people understand debt.
When taking out a loan it is important to ensure that you will be able to pay it back and that the monthly payments your loan company are asking of you are not going to be too much of a burden. The monthly payments we ask are designed to be manageable for those who make the effort. As such, it is important you are honest when asked to state your monthly income and other financial commitments as the loan terms you receive will be carefully calculated on the basis of these facts.
If you’re honest upfront about your financial situation and only agree a loan that you can repay the provided you are disciplined with your money you should not find you are in need of expert debt advice.
