Interest rates have been historically low over the past years and many households have been tempted with the opportunities to borrow to service their wants and needs. As a result many are now realizing that they have created an unserviceable debt situation and are looking for options to get them back on their feet. One of the common avenues to get out of debt is through a debt consolidation loan. While this might seem like a holy grail to get out of your debt situation there are some pitfalls that you need to be aware of.
The idea of a debt consolidation loan is logical enough, consolidate all your high interest loans and debts into a single lower interest rate loan with a single monthly repayment. It simplifies your debt repayment system because its just the one loan and it reduces your overall monthly repayment because it’s a lower interest loan.
The problem is that while a debt consolidation loan is a good option for many people it can also often be misused. For instance if you consolidate your debt through accessing your equity on your home you have dealt with the immediate problem of your debt but you haven’t actually dealt with the cause of how you got into debt in the first place. Many times after a debt consolidation loan they often get into debt through their credit cards and all of a sudden they are in a worse predicament then they were before the consolidation loan.
If you are to pursue a debt consolidation path you need to be willing to first deal with the cause of your situation. There is no point looking for a quick fix to get you out of your immediate jam only to get into a bigger debt problem further down the road and no longer having the option to consolidate.
If you know you aren’t disciplined enough to deal with the causes of your spending you are probably better off not consolidating your debt. That way you are forced to face your mess daily and by learning to pay off your high interest debt slowly you may eventually drill some sense into you and realize the futility of spending unwisely. It is only through changing your spending habits will you really benefit from a debt consolidation loan anyway so why not learn through managing your current debt mess than learn through a debt consolidation loan only to find that the mess has now gotten bigger.
At the end of the day you need to realize that there is nothing that is going to be a quick fix in life. While a debt consolidation loan makes logical sense, it is only going to be a temporary band-aid solution if you don’t get your spending in order.