When most people think of bad credit debt consolidation loans, they think of going to a debt consolidation service where they’ll have to go through the process of debt counseling, reveal all of their financial information, and then become the object of scrutiny to dozens of consolidation agents. While this can be a beneficial route to go, it’s easy to see why many are reluctant to do so. There are just so many horror stories about debt consolidation going wrong, or getting people into worse shape, credit-wise, than they were in to begin with. Luckily, there are ways to go about consolidating your monthly debts into a single payment that don’t involve outside agencies at all; you can do them yourself, from start to finish!
One of the most popular methods of doing this involves finding a credit card that will enable you to perform a balance transfer with zero percent interest. Surprisingly, more and more credit card companies are beginning to offer this feature because it’s just so much in demand. And it’s easy to see why.
If you’re trying to rebuild your credit, you know that one of the worst things you have to contend with is the constant assault of accruing interest on each and every one of your accounts. This accruing interest can often prevent you from even being able to pay off the principle of your loans at all, resulting in your just paying off the interest month after month, while you get into worse and worse shape, financially. Obviously, the ability to merge those multiple monthly payments into a single monthly payment would be highly beneficial; you would then be accountable only to one account, effectively paying off all the others immediately, at least so far as your credit report is concerned.
When you get a credit card that allows a zero percent balance transfer, what you’re doing is transferring the balance of your other credit cards onto a single credit card, whereafter you’re only responsible for paying the interest on that one singular account, as opposed to multiple accounts. Moreover, because its zero percent, there are no added fees for doing this, and it’s just effectively transmuting your half a dozen credit cards into one. This is a lot more convenient!
However, if your credit card company won’t offer a zero percent transfer, you’ll need to make some hard decisions. Look at the interest rate being offered on the balance transfer, and make the calculations to determine whether or not it would cost you any less to transfer your existing accounts to that card. Usually, it will benefit you, but not always, so take nothing for granted when you’re dealing with interest rates on balance transfers that are higher than zero percent. It’s just common sense as usual – read the fine print when you’re dealing with anything credit-related.
The main point to grasp here is that debt consolidation is a multifaceted enterprise that has many forms besides the big agency that’s going to look over your financial history with a fine-toothed comb. Often, you can take debt consolidation into your own hands, and crawl out of the pit of monthly interest-only payments towards the light of financial freedom all on your own.
