Ok, its the basic story. The husband and I have your average debt: 2 credit cards and some student loans. The credit card companies are starting to pull some crap we aren't happy with and my federal student loans were "conveniently" sold off to three or four different lenders. SO! We've just been thinking about the best way to pay off our debt and temporarily lower our monthly payments. My step sister went with a consolidation loan through a legit company and is very happy with it. My question is whether anyone else has gone with the consolidation loan route to free up debt and what was your experience? Anyone have any good legit companies they can suggest?
i dont know, that whole racket seems pretty shady to me. you're going to take out a loan to pay off loans, and the company you got the consoli loan from could change your interest rate and you can end up paying MORE than you owed in the first place. i dont really know too much about it though. as for a company, why dont you go with the one your sister chose? you said she was happy with it
nope my credits not that fucked up i just got a cell phone bill from like 4 years ago i need to pay but that'll get taken care of soon cus im bout to be a millionaire(my grandma died) =/
From my limited understanding: Just crunch the numbers If you get fixed interest rate loan, work out what the total interest ontop of the original sum is, and compare it to the totaled amounts of interest you'll be paying ontop of your original debt amounts. If its a less then good? Also compare the monthly payments. How much is your debts A+B+C totally just now compared to the monthly repayment of the one lump sum offered? Might be worth doing but you need to read PROPERLY into anything before you sign anything.
If you have an 4 year old outstanding cell phone bill I guarantee your credit is fucked up. They don't play with outstanding payments.
I appreciate the advice, but I'm not dumb when it comes to getting consolidation loans. I've done my research and I know what companies to stay away from. I was just looking for stories from people who have gone through this type of debt situation. Just sitting down and crunching the numbers is not enough for us. Like I said, my student loans were sold to a bunch of different lenders before I graduated. In total my husband and I are paying 6 different companies for our student loans. It is not a fun situation and makes keeping track of bills much more difficult. When I find a legit company that offers the right consolidation for my needs it'll be much easier making one payment rather than 6.
Yeppers. I did it years ago. Best move I ever made. Yeah I had to give them a small monthly admin charge, but it was a small price to pay to get the threatening letters off my doorstep and make the unpleasant phonecalls go away. If your credit score is already fucked, you don't have much to lose by doing it and everything to gain. I finished paying of my debts over five years ago. My credit score is totally fine now and I've just bought my first house. Needless to say I am now strictly a cash only bladie.