Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Is Debt Consolidation the Right Choice?

Debt seems to be a problem for many americans. I am a proponent of only buying what you have the money to pay for but sometimes when it comes to education, housing, or medical expenses, the need makes it neccessary to borrow money for these large expenses. Borrowing money is not a good way to relieve your self from economic trouble but for these type of expenses are necesities that need to be addressed.

Whether you are overwhelmed in debt, or just have too many bills to pay, a debt consolidation company can help relieve some of the burden. What they promise is to consolidate all of your seperate loans and debts into one easy payment. From an accounting stand point the benefit is immediate. Then the question becomes if they are saving you any money. Many times what they are doing is adding on fees and charge a much higher interest rate than you are paying. Then they simply stretch out the payments over a longer period to make the cost seem lower.

As is the case with all money matters; research is key. Make sure when you use one of these services that they are actually saving money. Before resorting to these steps there are other options of relieving your debt that may prove usefull. If you still think you need to consolidate your debt the best place to start at is the National Foundation of Credit Counselors. This is a non-profit organiztion that actually works with the credit card companies. Most important of all is to simply live within your means and credit problems will never become a problem.

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