Overwhelmed by your debt?
Debt is everywhere. And California is no exception. Whether it’s buying a home or a new car, we all use it and it can feel difficult to overcome it and get to a place of financial wellbeing.
But what happens when debt gets out of control and it becomes a hard trek to get out of it?
You have options though and while it may feel like a burden, there are a variety of things you can do to alleviate the pressure of debt and its effects on your financial health.
Types of Debt In California
Debt is a catch-all term for a variety of financial products that are owed to a third party. Whether it’s a bank, financial institution, family member, or friend. Any money owed to someone is considered a debt.
There are many types of debt and some may be consolidated for debt relief purposes. Credit card debt, consumer debt, mortgages, student loans, auto loans, and bankruptcy-related expenditures may all be considered for debt consolidation. These are the debts you should focus on if you’re interested in breaking away from serious debt and enjoying better financial health.
Debt consolidation in California is one of the most effective ways to reduce liabilities and get ahead of your debt situation.
Debt Relief Options In California
Reviewing debt consolidation programs and scheduling time with debt experts are great first steps to alleviate your debt. Outside of these first steps, there are several methods to consider when looking for debt relief.
If you own a home, you might be sitting in one of the best options out there.
And that is using your home equity as a debt consolidation tool.
There are several benefits to using home equity to take care of outstanding debt. One of them is that you’re using a secured form of lending. Secured loans tend to cost less in fees and interest rate as there’s a lower risk the bank has to take on this debt. They use a lien to ensure they’ll receive payment, or property as collateral. This all sounds much worse than it is, your mortgage is a similar type of lending and as long as you make your payments and borrow responsibly, secured loans are among the best to consider for debt consolidation.
By using your property to back up this lending option, you’ll qualify for rates between 3 and 6%. Substantially lower than any credit card debt, and a much better way to save money on your outstanding debt than most other options.
There are also tax benefits to using your Home Equity Line Of Credit for debt consolidation and if your bank offers them, you might be able to get a great promotional rate on your line of credit. Some rates have dipped below 2% in the past, but there’s not guarantee of this in today’s lending climate.
Another option to consider is credit counseling. These services provide advice on money management and how to handle your debt and work with your monthly budget. They’ll provide a plan to attack your debt, and help determine timelines and best practices to take care of debt issues. Your debt experts might have a credit counseling program so ask them first.
Many credit counseling services offer free workshops and materials to help educate the local community and those interested in tackling their debt.
These services may also help organize your monthly payments and negotiate more favorable terms for your liabilities based on your current financial situation. While credit counselors may help reduce your monthly payments, they won’t be able to reduce your total debt, so diligence in paying things off is still important.
Debt management is another method used to help break down your monthly payments. There are a few different ways to handle this including Do It Yourself options.
The DIY methods are effective if you can hold yourself accountable for your progress. The debt snowball and debt avalanche are two techniques that are common for DIY techniques.
Use budget calculators, repayment calculators, and financial management software to help track your progress and set goals. You might also try reaching out to your creditors to see if you can lower your monthly payments or renegotiate your interest rates. This will help relieve some of the pressure from your debt.
Keep in mind that the debt snowball is usually the better option for reducing debt in most cases.
Your credit counselor may also help with debt management and it’s worth asking what methods they recommend as seasoned debt experts.
Debt settlement is another option for California debtors and is usually a last resort to taking care of your debt. The reason being that the best way to negotiate your debt is settlement is to stop paying your bills altogether. Your credit score will suffer for it, so debt settlement should be used as an absolute last resort.
Alleviate Financial, Debt Experts
Ready to break your debt down and cut back on the high fees from your creditors? At Alleviate Financial Solutions, we partner with our clients to help them get the best debt relief results for their financial situation. When you take the first step toward a new financial future, you can expect our debt consolidation experts to deliver the relief you’ve been looking for.
You’ll be able to free yourself from your debts faster than without debt relief options. When paying unsecured debt like credit card debts, the interest charges can eat up most of your monthly payment, making it take a long time to pay the principal balances down.
Professional assistance from seasoned experts in debt consolidation can provide assurance that you’ll get the most significant reductions in your debt balances possible. Our seasoned negotiators deal with creditors every single day to get the lowest rates in interest charges, late fees, and over-the-limit fees that have been making it so difficult to pay off debts.
Once our team reaches an agreement with your creditors, you’ll be set up on a program with one lower yet more impactful payment into a debt repayment savings account.
No longer will you be dealing with paying multiple payments that cost you more but never move the needle on getting out of debt. One simple payment helps you budget with the peace of mind that if you stay on track until the program’s end, you’ll pay off the debt and be financially free again.
As part of our commitment to your financial well-being, we help you establish intelligent financial habits to get you out of debt faster and stay out of debt long-term. We regularly publish resources for getting out of debt on our blog and YouTube channel to help you stay out of a bad financial situation in the future. Once we help you escape the grip of unsecured debt, it’s our mission to help keep you from ever finding yourself in that stressful situation again.
