If you’re in a financial crisis due to your mounting debts, you’re not alone. Yes, you are indeed in hot water, but don’t worry. We are the debt elimination specialists who can get you out of there quickly and inexpensively. See what our program can do for you by filling out a form today. It’s no obligation, private, and completely free. You can have no risk.

Your personal debts could involve family illness, job loss or heavy overspending. Whatever it may be, it can be brought under control instead of going from bad to worse. All you need is a vision, some intelligent planning and the expertise of a debt relief company and you’re on the road to recovery.

If you or someone known to you is in this kind of trouble, you need to consider the following: making a realistic budget, asking for credit counseling from a reputed debt relief company, seeking debt consolidation or announcing bankruptcy. Another workable solution is debt settlement.

With so many options, how do you choose the best for you? Well, this largely depends on your debt level, your level of financial discipline and future professional prospects.

At DebtEliminationSite.net, we specialize in referring you to debt relief companies who can sort out your problem efficiently and entirely in your favor. We also educate our clients in debt elimination strategies so that they can make an informed choice when it matters.

Coming to us is a win-win situation for you because not only do you get focused advice on your specific problem, but your problem is evaluated by trained and experienced financial wizards, so get in touch with us today.

Debt Elimination Strategies: Our vast experience in this niche tells us that there are four basic debt elimination strategies that people can choose from. These are:

1. Debt Settlement: Debt settlement is a synonym for debt arbitration, debt negotiation and credit settlement. It is a method of reducing one’s burgeoning debts by a mutual agreement between the debtor and the creditor to reduce the balance, which will be seen as a full and final payment. This is possible if you negotiate the amount with your creditors and settle for a figure between 30 to 80 cents in the dollar.

Perhaps, you are unable to make your minimum repayments due to a sudden financial problem. Your best bet for this is debt settlement, rather than opting for bankruptcy. Should this ever happen to you, speak to us at DebtEliminationSite.net; we are professionals in this niche area. We will explain debt settlement to you so that you save the maximum amount of money after negotiating with your creditors. Alternatively, just submit a form now and we will explain to you in detail how it works.

2. Bankruptcy: This is the last resort for all debtors, and its negative effect lingers with them for years since it stays on your credit report for 7 to 10 years. However, changes in bankruptcy law have made it tougher to go in for Chapter 7 bankruptcy by which you must repay your debts. Therefore, filers opt for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, by which one’s debts are reorganized and debtors pay to a plan over time.

3. Credit Counseling: Credit counseling agencies offer debt management plans for those who need some monthly debt relief due to high interest rates. If creditors lower interest rates, credit counselors can expedite paying off your debts. In two situations, however, credit counseling will not work for you:

- If your financial problems require you to have more than a slight reduction in monthly amounts

- If you already find it difficult to pay your monthly credit card payments

4. Debt Consolidation: If you are not mired in debt, this is a good solution for you. You can obtain a debt consolidation loan if you have a good income and equally strong credit. Debt consolidation is given as a cash-out refinance, with equity in your home paying off your debt on the credit card. But by doing this, you are willfully shifting unsecured debt on your credit card to one secured by your home, thereby jeopardizing your home in the event that you are unable to pay your debt consolidation loan.

Debt settlement is a debt relief strategy designed to help you out of your financial problems in about 36 months. Leave your troubles to negotiators like us to handle all your affairs with your creditors and let us help reduce your balance amounts to a manageable level. This is a good option for all debtors as it is the cheapest way of resolving all unsecured debts, e.g. credit card debts, and avoiding bankruptcy. By paying your debts each month, your minimum monthly amounts will be vastly reduced. However, this could damage your credit rating, but if you want to resolve your debt quickly, this is the best way for you.

Do-It-Yourself Strategies: One way of getting out of debt and staying there is to look for the do-it-yourself strategy that suits your problem best and implement it. Once you do this, you’ll have complete control over your finances and lead a completely debt-free life. Here are some DIY strategies that can help you accomplish this:

1. Debt Snowball: This repayment method is a form of debt management, which helps to repay debts on credit cards. Here, along with the least amount payable on the card, the debtor adds extra cash to pay off his debts faster.

2. Debt Avalanche: This is the opposite of the Debt Snowball strategy. Here, you pay off the debt with the highest interest rate and then descend to the one slightly lower in interest rate, pay it off completely and move on to the next until all your debts are paid off.

3. Debt Snowflake: Here, you cut down on your expenses and add on the money you save to your next credit card repayment amount one at a time, each one something like a snowflake that falls on other similar snowflakes, forming a pile of snow.

4. Debt Consolidation: If you want to reduce the rate of interest you pay to your creditors or credit card Company, choose Debt Consolidation. Here, you negotiate with your creditors to reduce the interest rates on your debts.

5. Debt Management: If you cannot pay off your debts along with your monthly expenses, use the Debt Snowball strategy to pay up and be debt-free.

Now that you know the benefits of being debt-free, what are you waiting for? To take the first step to be completely debt-free and lead a financially secure life, get in touch with us today! All you need to do is to fill out this FORM and we’ll be in touch with help for you.

There are many reasons why you should consolidate debt. Here are a few of them…

If you’re juggling several debts, you can gain better control of your finances by consolidating your debt. With debt consolidation, your bunch of debts is seen as one debt and you can now pay promptly towards it, giving you you financial discipline.

If you’ve overspent or have several high interest loans such as student loans or car loans, you can roll your high interest debt and put the entire amount in one payment. Each month, you make one payment to the consolidation company who will divide your money among your many creditors. So, you don’t have to make several payments to creditors at different interest rates.

You can reduce the interest rate by negotiating with your creditors and extend the repayment tenure. Your creditors will then restructure your debt and help you manage your debts better.

Of course, debt consolidation does not help you reduce the loan amount, but you can cut your interest charges and budget for repayment every month. Over time, you can improve your credit rating by paying back your creditors steadily every month and so do away with the harassment of debt collectors.

In fact, you can get rid of the harassment of debt collectors’ calls by signing a power of attorney with the debt consolidation company. This prohibits your collection agencies and creditors from contacting you either in person or by phone.

Debt consolidation allows you to make a fresh start and start saving money. Now, you will have to tighten your belt and make wise investments to pay off your loans early.

By negotiating with your creditor, you can do away with paying late fees, penalties and accrued interest that pile up with time.

It’s also possible for you to be debt-free much faster. By paying a little more than the minimum on your credit card each month, you take much less time to finish your payments. You can be completely debt-free in a matter of about five years, as compared to 20 years or more.

You can improve your credit score once you are debt-free. As soon as the debt consolidation money is acquired, it can be used to pay off the original debts. By settling all your accounts, your credit rating will go up. Once you pay your loan on time, your credit rating can be restored in about six months or a year.

Since you put the matter of your debt in the hands of a debt consolidation company, it will help you pay your debts faster than you thought. This will be cost saving for you in terms of monthly interest rates. You can also squirrel away some savings in the form of money that you would pay towards late fee and debit orders from the bank that would have been taken from your account.

Work towards improving your credit score: Take a look at your credit report and score. Do you find missed payments, penalties and high balances? If yes, remember they adversely impact your credit card score. In order to reverse the situation, all you need do is to start paying to your account regularly each month. This is one big way by which you can boost your credit card score to make you eligible for any future borrowings for a home or car.

Build a contingency fund: Do you feel cash-strapped? Never mind, it’s more important to pay your debts on your credit cards so that you can free up some cash for life’s fun little things. A small treat once in a while or even once a month is possible if you pay your debts quickly and consistently.

Save for those many rainy days: You can never predict disasters, so save for them. Perhaps it’s a medical emergency, accident, or a job loss. You need money to pay cash down. Once you pay towards your credit cards, the extra payment you save can go towards paying credit card interest and related fees.

Save for your retirement: Once you’re debt-free, you must first take care of yourself. One way of doing this is to save furiously for your retirement. Contribute towards IRA or a 401(k) plan. Often, companies will pay an amount similar amount to yours and deposit it into your bank account.

Ask for a mortgage loan: Paying off your debts on your credit cards can qualify you for a home loan with major lenders.

Buy next year’s holiday buys in cash: At the end of the year, you go overboard buying all kinds of things for your next holiday. And when the credit card bills come early in the New Year, you’re appalled to see the amount you’ve spent. To avoid such a situation, resolve to pay off your credit card debts. Imagine the peace of mind you’re going to have in paying for holiday gifts in cash rather than by card.

It can affect your insurance rates: Your credit card debt as shown in your credit score can adversely affect your insurance rates, irrespective of whether you are approved to rent an apartment or a company agrees to hire you. Whether you seek a job or accommodation, your employers and landlords will run a check on you to see if you are at high risk or low. Should they be in doubt about your score, they will offset it by charging you a high interest rate or refuse your application.

For these reasons, it is best that you focus on clearing your credit card debts and lead a debt-free life as soon as you can.

Unsecured Debt: This kind of debt does not have the backing of any collateral. This means that if you miss paying any of your installments on an unsecured debt, the creditor can take nothing from you to recover his costs against non-payment of your debt.

Here, so long as you make your payments steadily and in the long term, your lender cannot seize your property. Over a fixed period, your debt will be paid off. It is far cheaper to borrow with an unsecured loan than by using an overdraft facility or a credit card.

Unsecured debts also come with high interest rates for the same reason—lack of collateral. A credit card is an example of an unsecured debt because a credit card company cannot take away any of your possessions if you do not pay the balance on your card. This is why creditors who try to collect money on an unsecured and a delinquent debt turn to debt collectors for assistance.

An unsecured debt is usually given as a credit card debt, medical debt, personal loan or commercial debt. If you default on your unsecured debt, your lenders are liable to sue you, but they will instead work out a good debt settlement.

Secured debt: Here, unlike unsecured debts, the lender has collateral or an asset like a house or car. So, the creditor can seize either of these if the borrower defaults on his payments. The best examples of these debts are home mortgages and car loans. Since this loan is secured against your home or car, the interest is much lesser than that of an unsecured loan and you can borrow more.

In a secured debt, you can also borrow the money over a longer repayment tenure. This means that you can pay smaller monthly installments over a much longer term.

Here, the creditor keeps with him a security interest in the form of a house or car. The advantage of a secured debt is that if the borrower defaults on his payments, the worth of the debt can be recovered by repossessing the property. An advantage of a secured debt is the fact that you could still have to pay for the deficiency balance due on the debt once your property has been repossessed and sold.

In a bankruptcy, secured debts are not released automatically. However, if you do go bankrupt, your mortgage doesn’t go away completely, but if you want to keep your only asset—your house—keep paying your mortgage amounts.

If by selling your property, your lender does not realize the full debt amount, it will show up as a deficiency balance which you are expected to pay up. This unpaid deficiency balance is now seen as an unsecured debt because it does not have any property to secure it. Usually, this remainder amount can be resolved by paying through a debt settlement program.

Understand your debt: Understand the terms and conditions of your debt money. You can do this by listing all the debts you owe with full details such as the name of the creditor, his address, phone number, etc. Use software like Quicken or YNAB and any other budget tools available online to track your debt. Put down everything in Excel templates.

Work off your debt with a plan: Having listed all your debts, how do you propose to pay them off? Make a foolproof plan that works best for you. Using a debt repayment calculator, calculate the duration of your debt on minimum payments. This might mean you make more payments, but before that you need to fully understand just what you’re getting into. You also need to make a budget to manage your money because the money you save will be pay your debt.

Pay off your debts steadily and be more aware of where your every dollar is going. However, though you might have to make certain sacrifices along the way to meet your financial goals, seek a balance between sacrifices and practicality.

Set up an emergency fund: If you have a bit of extra money from tax returns or anywhere else, build an emergency fund solely to pay off your debt. Don’t touch it for anything else, no matter how important.

Go from smallest to biggest: According to Dave Ramsey, paying off the smallest loans first and moving up to the highest is the best approach. This gives you a feeling of having reached a milestone, plus you free up some extra money that can go into making monthly payments to the bigger loans.

Improve your credit rating: If you are interested in getting rid of your debts, you need to have a good credit score as this qualifies you for lower interest rates that can reduce your interest charges. With a FICO score of 660-760, you can get a car loan, mortgage on your house and home equity. One way to improve your credit rating is to pay your bills promptly.

Another way of improving your credit rating is not to close your revolving card and credit card accounts. Your credit score here is determined by the amount of debt you have as compared with the amount of credit available. The more available credit you have, the better for your ratings. And of course, one final way of improving your credit rating is to reduce the interest rate on your debt by refinancing your mortgage, negotiating a reduced interest on credit cards and home equity credit lines.

Eliminate all extra expenses: Examine all your expenses closely and decide whether you really need cable TV, café lunches and any other luxuries. Cut down what you can do without and focus on clearing all your debts.

Don’t refinance your home mortgage just because you can: The interest rates may fall, but don’t use this as a platform for refinancing your home mortgage. All you can do is to get yourself a Good Faith Estimate of the entire loan and its cost that the lender is willing to give you upfront whenever you ask for it, whether the interest rates change or not.

Don’t refinance your home loan on an adjustable interest rate: This might sound like a good idea when the interest rates are high, but it would be in your best interests to choose a fixed interest rate. A fixed interest rate will make sure just how much is going out of your account each month towards refinancing your home loan. This negates the fear of unexpected increases that you might find unaffordable.

Are you prepared for “garbage” fees? Refinancing your home makes you open to “garbage” fees. These are fees for application, processing, administrative, and other related activities. Other fees can also be levied by your lender which you can easily negotiate rather than pay upfront.

You don’t save money by refinancing: You could refinance your home in order to save some money, but your bills remain the same. So, if you want to lower your bill amounts, check the refinancing details. Apart from the loan amount, you will also be paying the interest for years, which will hike up your payments. However, refinancing your home loan may help you reduce your monthly mortgage payments which could be a life-saver if you find it tough going to pay those amounts now.

Should you refinance now? To decide this, first look at the day’s interest rates. The day you see those interest rates are less than your present rates, you could refinance your home loan. This will save you a lot of money. However, in some cases, you should not refinance your home loan, such as if you have a poor credit history. So, take good advice from your financial advisor before deciding.

How much should I pay? Yes, you can save money by refinancing your home loan, but you should be prepared to pay some fees cash down. This could include appraising your house to know its true value, or title fees or closing costs. There are some lenders who will add those costs to the loan, but eventually, this will only cost you more in terms of paying interest. So, think hard before considering refinancing your home loan.

Advantages: Though there’s a stigma attached to bankruptcy, it can end up being a very good thing for debt-ridden individuals wanting to rid themselves of their financial burden. Here are some advantages of bankruptcy:

• It discharges you of all debts, making you entirely debt-free. This means that legally you are not entitled to pay any of your debts. Once you are free of all your debts, you can renew your life and manage your finances better.
• Your property cannot be repossessed. In fact, it may demand creditors to return already repossessed property.
• Your creditors will stop calling and harassing you for monthly payments and according to a court provision, they will be prevented from claiming your secured assets.
• You can hold on to your job without any fear of being fired from it solely on the grounds of bankruptcy.
• Your utilities such as water, electricity, etc cannot be cut off and if it has already been done, they need to be restored.
• It prevents any foreclosure on your property and gives you ample time to pay all your debts.
• You can now dispute all the false claims made by your creditors who are trying to collect more money from you than is legitimate.
• In order to file for bankruptcy, you must enroll in a credit counseling program where you will be taught how to manage your money and avoid from bankruptcy.

Disadvantages:

• The fact that you have filed for bankruptcy will be part of your credit report for the next seven to ten years, rendering it difficult for you to get a loan for a house or a car.
• Bankruptcy makes a deep negative impact on your credit rating.
• Even if you are discharged from all your debts, you won’t be able to obtain a discharge for the next six years. If you incur any new debts after filing for bankruptcy, you will be exempted from discharge.
• If someone known to you has co-signed the debt, he or she will be made liable to pay the entire debt.
• After filing for bankruptcy, people do not feel any shame or guilt for not paying off their debts.
• The equity on your home is usually used to pay off your debts.
• If you run a business, part of it or the entire business may be sold.
• You could find the going expensive after filing for bankruptcy as the fees will be taken from the value of your assets.
• Going bankrupt can strain your relations at home and in society.
• Your employer could discriminate against you for filing bankruptcy by delaying your promotions. If you’re applying for a job, you may not be selected.

For these reasons, credit counseling is fantastic because it relieves you of the burden of paying back a hefty sum as debt. Credit counseling can also teach you to avoid such problems in future. However, credit counseling is not everyone’s cup of tea because not everyone feels bad about the severity of the debt they carry on their shoulders.

They don’t respond to credit counseling nor do they plan and budget their money as they are taught to but continue to fritter away their money, despite all the good advice credit counselors give them. If you are in deep debt and want a way out, go in for credit counseling only if your objective is to reduce your debt burden at the earliest opportunity.

Advantages of credit counseling: There are many advantages of credit counseling, such as:

• Credit rating: Over a long period of time, eliminating your debt is going to help your credit rating and give you peace of mind you never imagined possible.
• Money-saving: A good credit counselor is skilled at the art of negotiation and will negotiate lower interest rates for you, and get credit card fees and over the limit fees waived.
• Education: In terms of personal finance, credit counseling is invaluable. With good credit counseling, a debtor can benefit with the tools, information and resources necessary to avoid bankruptcy.
• Interest rates: If you want to get into a Debt Management Plan (DMP), then you stand to gain by your credit counselor negotiating on your behalf with your creditors to lower your interest rates on your credit cards.
• Debt collectors’ harassment: If debt collectors have been harassing you by calling you at home and work, asking for your monthly payments, with credit counseling this will stop.

Disadvantages of credit counseling: The disadvantages of credit counseling are:

• Home mortgage: If you want to buy a home, having a poor rating due to your credit card debts is going to show up in your credit card report and will make you ineligible for a housing loan or mortgage. However, a credit counselor can help you by taking you off the debt rolls until you finalize a home.
• Monthly payments: Credit counseling companies are non-profit organizations, but they will charge you about $50 for a Debt Management Plan. So, be prepared to pay.
• Debt Management Plan (DMP): When you get onto a DMP, take care to pay steadily and consistently each month, because if you don’t, they will just take you off the debt management plan.

The advantages and disadvantages of credit counseling are before you, now it’s up to you to decide whether it’s right for you or not.

• First, ask for a copy of your credit report from the three credit reporting agencies—Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. Check the paperwork carefully and ensure that these are, in fact, your debts.
• If you cannot find the original creditor of a particular debt, it could mean that the reporting period is well past and the original amount to be credited has been removed. Now, look at the other debts. If you still have debts and have the money ready, you can pay it off immediately. If you want to negotiate a settlement, look for an acceptable figure. Perhaps the creditor might have to forgo some late charges or other fees.
• After paying the negotiated figure, it’s time to ask for a written agreement as proof of having paid in full. You can now send the check for the agreed sum to the company concerned so that the company doesn’t go back on its word (agreement). Keep this letter safe in your file.
• Now, check the dates of charge-offs from creditors that are still showing up on your credit file. Your “date of last activity” or original reporting date should show up in the left corner of the entry. If the date of this is over seven and a half years ago, the debt is considered old and obsolete, and must be taken off the report.
• After finishing with one debt, move on to the next using the same procedure as shown above. Depending on your financial position, it might take you months to close all debts.

Tips:

• Deal with your debt snowball first and then with your bad debts. However, your debtor companies can sue you for not paying them and have your salary withheld in order to pay your creditors. Should this happen, snowball that debt.
• If your debt is written off it is seen as income. You need to take this into account when negotiating a debt. You could adjust any withholdings so that you don’t owe the IRS any money at the end of the year.
• Prevent yourself from being declared delinquent on any bills by making a budget. Then, become debt-free and save every month. Your savings can prepare you for emergencies.
• Clearing up old debts can be tedious but well worth the effort in the long run as your credit report starts looking good and you can now buy a home.
• If you have paid up all your debts, your credit report will prove this. However, sometimes an old debt will remain on your credit report, thereby ruining your score and your reputation. To avoid this, find out the reporting period of your debt and then have it removed.