Whats your opinion taking out a Loan to pay off Debt???

Question

My debt is not that sky high, however I would like to pay it off by getting a loan and the montly payment wouldn't be so bad. However my partner is not agreeing to this and I'm worried the debt will continue eating away. What you think to my suggestions??

Answer 1

I take it you've never heard of the expression "Robbing Peter to pay Paul"? because that's all you'd be doing - getting into more debt to pay off another. It just doesn't make sense. Sorry.

Answer 2

This is only a good idea if you know that you can make your payment and if the interest rate if the loan is going to be less than the one you are currently paying on the debt now, most people will rush out and get a loan to pay off debt of credit cards and things like this and as soon as they get them paid off they rack them back up again I would first try to bargin with the debt that you already for example if you have a creditor calling and they want X amount of money a month ask them what amount of money would they settle for to get this taken care of if you could pay them cash in two days, when you do this then you can usually get them to reduce the amount you owe by almost 50% after you do this with all of your debts figure out what you need for a loan and pay everything off at that lower amount then your loan won't need to be as much, also one thing that you should not do is get a loan for only a portion of the debt that you have because then you will have not only the loan payment but also the payments of all of the things that the loan didn't pay off! I hope that this helped you a little bit, best of Luck I have been in yours shoes! I know that it is hard but if you try really hard you will get there!

Answer 3

Consolidation loans are a good idea, as long as you understand the dangers.

What a lot of people do wrong is get this loan, pay off their old debts, then run out and start charging their now-empty credit cards. Now they are twice the amount in debt, and look at bankruptcy as a way out.

As long as you stop getting more credit until this debt is paid off, then it's a very good idea. In the meantime cut your budget and make extra payments on the new loan.

Answer 4

Consolidationg debt with more debt in not always the best option. Look at all solutions to your problem. If you are not a homeowner and have debts in your name of £15k or more, consider looking at an IVA. The problem is this does effect your credit rating. The advantage is that you will be debt free in 60 months without further finance (not making the problem larger).

On the otherhand, if you are able to afford the re-payment and are not looking to take out further finance in the near future, perhaps the loan would be the option for you. Remember, every time you have a credit report you leave a footprint which can change the lenders loo when offering you a loan...

Answer 5

It seems a good idea, but you have to remember that although you may land up payin less over an amount of years to pay it off, and you THINK you have a few extra quid to spend, its easy to carry on spending that money and land up in deeper debt than you are already. Paying off your original loan and then trying to pay off your new bits too will be even harder.

If they are credit card debts, then you might think about transfering them to one card and then cutting the cards up so you dont use them again. Some do a deal where they have a fixed interest for transfers or even non at all, so shop around.

But the best thing to do, as others have already said on here, is to cut your spending where possible and pay off as much as you can when u can.

Answer 6

It sounds like you and/or your partner are having trouble managing your finances. First you need to get your budget under control. If you can't manage what you have, getting a loan won't solve the problem, it will simply make you dig yourself deeper in debt.

I would recommend checking the forums at creditboards.com for lots of free advice on creating a budget and sticking to it. If you can create a budget and stick to it, then if you have high interest debt and can get a debt consolidation loan for a lower interest rate, it will save you money and help you get out of the rut.

There is a person-to-person lending site called Prosper.com where people have been able to get unsecured debt consolidation loans. I've been lending there for a few months and have some experience if you need help. You can contact me if you want more information.

Answer 7

Getting a loan to pay off debt is not paying off debt. All you are doing is transferring the debt from one account to another. The terms of the new account may extend out the length of the loan and therfore give you lower monthly payments to make.

This may create the illusion of putting you in a better financial state since you are paying less on a monthly basis.

If you can get a lower interest rate by transfering the debt, then go ahead and do it. You should make every effort to pay additional money toward the loan and get it paid off sooner. Don't use your credit card except for emergencies. Ween yourself off of credit cards by using debit cards.

Answer 8

Always check the interest rates. The bank is always the best. If you get a loan you can probably negotiate a cash settlement with each debt and reduce the amount substantially leaving you the first few instalments paid for. Its not a bad thing to do but you must be careful you don't just add that as a further debt and start again. That's how financial ruin begins, hence your partner being concerned.

Answer 9

Some religions are banning interest rates. Because they make the rich more rich and let the poors no other options than giving money to rich people.

So the first thing to do to improve a financial situation is to make sure you have the best interests rates on your credit.

The best in your situation would be to find a credit card with a 0% interest fees for the first 6 months.

Pay you old bills with this new card, cancel the previous credit card - or lower its credit line: http://index-go.com/credit-with-cards-low-interest.asp

If your credit is bad, you won't be accepted for a low interest credit card. You'll then have to go with a debt consolidation loan: http://index-go.com/debt-consolidation-refinance-loans-mortgage.asp

Answer 10

For my husband and I, it didn't matter if we consolidated our cards with a loan or lower rate card to pay off debt, or if we just payed the credit cards individually - we weren't making any progress. We finally had to stop using the credit cards alltogether. We each kept one card for emergencies in our wallet, and put the others in a drawer - no we didn't cut them up. We closed some of the store credit cards we had - the places we never shop at, but kept the ones we do shop at open and in the drawer. We're not completely out of debt yet, but we're making progress. I would think either consolidating your debt to a single loan OR paying the credit cards individually will work, the main thing we had to to do was to stop spending.

Answer 11

Refinancing your debt is beneficial only if the rate of interest is lower than what you presently have. Also, you have to make sure that once you move your debt around your careful not to make new debt (i.e. paying one credit card of with a signature loan, but later charging on the credit card again, which defeats the whole purpose). Hope this helps.