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If you’re seriously in debt, what does it mean to you? I know there are people who can simply shrug it off, saying to themselves the Scarlet O’Hara line from Gone With The Wind, “I’ll worry about that tomorrow.” However, most people who are struggling with debt are not that blasé. They’re worried and maybe even scared about that big millstone of debt hanging around their necks and what they’re going to do about it. Fortunately, there are some debt relief options that could help.
Do a balance transfer
If your problem is credit card debts, you should be able to achieve some relief by transferring the balances on your high interest credit cards to one with a lower interest rate. Or you may be able to transfer them to what’s called a 0% interest balance transfer credit card. In this case, you would not have to pay any interest on the new card for anywhere from 6 to 18 months, depending on the card you choose. Since you would not have to pay any interest during those months, all of your payments would go towards reducing your balance. You might even be able to become debt-free before the end of your interest-free promotional period.
Refinance your house
If you have some equity in your house, you could probably refinance it. If you’re not familiar with equity, it is the difference between what your home is worth and how much you owe on it. For example, suppose that your mortgage is now $150,000 but your home is worth $225,000. This means you have $75,000 in equity. You could take out a new mortgage for probably 90% of that $225,000, which would give you around $60,000, and that might be enough to get you debt free.
Take out a second mortgage or a homeowner’s line of credit
If there are reasons why you would rather not refinance your home, you might take out a second mortgage or a homeowner’s line of credit. How much cash you could get would depend, again, on how much equity you have in the house. Spoiler alert – if you have been in the house for less than 10 years, you may have very little equity. This is because for those first 10 years, most of your payment goes against interest, rather than paying down your balance. However, if you have been in your home for more than 10 years or if you did a substantial down payment, you could have enough equity to get a second mortgage or a homeowner’s line of credit and use the money for debt relief.
Reduce your spending
When people are in trouble with debt, it’s usually because of their spending. Do you have a budget? Do you know how much you’re spending on food, clothing, insurance, medical expenses and the like? If the answer to these questions is “no,” you need to track your spending for several weeks, divide it into logical categories (such as those noted above) to see exactly where your money is going. You could then create a budget, reduce your spending where possible and use the money you free up to pay down your debts. If you’re typical and look closely at how you’re spending your money, the odds are that you should be able to save several hundred dollars a month, which would go a long way towards paying off your debt.
Debt settlement
We think the best of the debt relief options is called debt settlement. This is where we negotiate with your creditors to get your balances and interest rates reduced to help you get out of debt in 24 to 48 months. We usually save our clients thousands of dollars less than what they actually owe and provide them with an affordable payment plan. Call our toll-free number today so we can explain debt settlement in detail and why we think it is the best of the debt relief options.
