Can Debt Consolidation Make My Financial Position Worse?

 by: Jack Willis

Debt consolidation is one of the best ways of reducing debt. Your monthly payments become much lower and this will give you more disposable income. Unfortunately, debt consolidation can also make your position much worse. The reason debt consolidation can be bad is you. You, and your bad financial habits. That is how you got into debt in the first place.

Lack of financial discipline

If you take out a debt consolidation loan you have given your finances some breathing space. This means you should cut up your credit cards and take on no more forms of personal credit. This is because even though your payments are lower your outstanding level of debt is the same. It has just become more manageable.

If you do not get disciplined in this area you will find yourself in deep trouble. If you rack up more credit card debt, you will have to meet the payments of the credit cards as well as your debt consolidation loan payments. The reason you got the loan in the first place was to relieve the strain to debt. This is one surefire way of getting in more financial trouble.

Credit is not your money

Many consumers feel that the available credit on their credit card is their money. Once a credit card balance is paid off you are not in a position to use that money again. By using that credit facility you are entering more debt that ultimately will have to be paid. The best way to stay out of debt, is to not use easy credit and to realize that credit is not your money.

Your house could be at risk if you do not keep up repayments

Most of the basic forms of credit like overdrafts, credit cards and personal loans are unsecured forms of debt. This means that the money lender has lent you money based on information you have provided to them about your income and your ability to service repayments without requiring any form of security to be placed against the debt. The main reason these forms of credit are unsecured is because the amounts are normally small relative to the applicant’s income.

Debt consolidation loans, on the whole, are secured loans, normally secured against property. This is why rates can be lower than high street personal loans. It is necessary for the loans to be secured because each person who applies for a debt consolidation loan is classified a credit risk and has a track record of getting into debt. To offset this risk, the money lender will ask for security to be placed against the loan. If you fail to make payments on your loan then you may lose your security.

This is why self-discipline is so important in debt reduction because you may easily make your position far, far worse if you continue to treat debt in a frivolous way.