So you finally had to face the fact that you do have bad debt. You have to know that you are not alone on this planet, and tens of thousands of Americans are facing the situation every single day. To get out of debt you do have to follow a careful plan, and the success of your debt consolidation is going to depend on you only. It will depend on how you set up your debt consolidation plan, and how you follow that plan. I am going to give you some useful tips that have already helped many people get out of debt.
Face your debt
In order to solve your bad debts, you do have to face the situation. I know that it is not the best experience in life, but needs to be done, to get you a clear picture of your finances and how you can get out of debt.
Determine the credit that gives you the worst debt
If you are struggling with your bad debt, you will be able to determine the credit products (i.e. credit cards, long-term loans) that are causing you the most headaches. You have to tackle these products as soon as possible.
Prioritize your debt consolidation
You can easily find out which debt is causing you the most burning problems, and you can prioritize your credit products, which ones should be replaced first. You need to look into the repayments, the interest rate and the length of the agreement. If the agreement is a revolving credit like a credit card, how long would it take you to clear the balance in full if you carried on paying the same amount?
Get balances
Don’t let banks and credit card companies surprise you! You need to know exactly how much consolidation loan you need and it is not necessarily the amount on your statements. Get an up to date balance on every single debt you have.
Get a copy of your credit file
It is very important to know what is causing you bad credit and what do banks see when they check your credit file. You need to have an “outsider picture” before you can get out of debt.
Budget carefully
It is time to set up a budget and the plain purpose of this is to get out of debt faster than before. So you have to see where you can save some money and how you can improve your income, so you will be able to put more money towards your debt consolidation.
Avoid bad credit products
Depending on your credit rating, you can now apply for debt consolidation products. However, some of these products will not help you get out of debt at all. A debt consolidation product will have to do one or more of the following:
a, reduce your monthly outgoings
b, reduce the interest rate or the total interest you are paying
c, reduce the time it will take you to get out of debt.
If you follow the instructions above, you can really succeed with your bad credit consolidation and live a happy and debt-free life very soon. Wishing you good luck.