tommiej7533 wrote:
I'm looking for recommendation(s) on obtaining a debt consolidation loan. My current ratio is 32.5
based on a 40,800 total credit line. Is there a calculator out there where I could enter my various CC
interest rates and see what the differences would be based on a consolidation loan. (I realize the actual
dfference would have to do with the particular interest rate of the loan)
Can anyone recommend a comapny/loan institution that specializes in debt consolidation loans?
EQ 697
EX 690
TU 734
Hi, welcome to the forums!
I can't think of a calculator like that off the top of my head, but there might be one on bankrate.com. Check their CC section.
As for a source for a consolidation loan, I would strongly encourage you to investigate credit unions, both local and nationally-based. Most CU's pull EQ, although in the upper Midwest, many pull TU.
CU's are much less rapacious than banks. At the same time, many are pretty conservative (they're lending out their own money, after all), and some might tell you that you have to close down your CC's. Don't do that! Unless you are out of control with CC use, there is no benefit to this, and plenty of long-term damage to your FICO scores. Keep looking.
The most important thing to remember, remember, remember with a debt consolidation loan is that you absolutely must not incur any new CC debt!!! It's great to pull out a card and use it once a month to keep it alive for something that you would otherwise pay cash for --gas and groceries, for instance. But just use it once, put it away, and as soon as the balance pops up online, pay it off. Think of your CC's as debit cards --don't use them if you don't have the money in the bank.
Otherwise, you wind up with the payments due on the loan plus payments for new CC charges, and now you're much worse off than before.
You have to be brutally honest with yourself on this. An awful lot of people have gone down in flames by continuing to charge, but others have found this to be a great way to get out of CC debt forever.
* Credit is a wonderful servant, but a terrible master. * Who's the boss --you or your credit?
FICO's: EQ 781 - TU 793 - EX 779 (from PSECU) - Done credit hunting; having fun with credit gardening. - EQ 590 on 5/14/2007
