Finance

Welcome to the latest series at JosephSangl.com – Restructuring Debt

I am excited to embark on this series of posts because interest paid toward debt is one of the largest obstacles to gaining traction for one's own Debt Freedom March.

Of course, one way to eliminate the interest is to sell some stuff and become debt-free.  But I recognize that for some people, they have debt that they are going to have to focus on and just pay it off.  If this describes you, then I trust that this series helps you gain speed in your Debt Freedom March! 

Part One – Know What You Are Paying

Part Two – Lower The Interest Rates!

Part Three – Lower The Interest Rates! – Continued

Part Four – Lower The Interest Rates! – Continued 

There are many approaches one can take to lower their interest rates.  In Part Two, I covered the "negotiation" avenue.  In Part Three, we covered surfing the balances to zero-percent credit cards.  In Part Four, it was the debt consolidation option.  In Part Five, I will be covering the credit score option.

Credit Scores Matter!

I know.  I am brilliant.  But it matters so much when it comes to reducing the interest that lenders will charge on your existing debt (this is a no-new-debt zone!).  As your credit score improves, your credit card surfing and bill consolidation loan options will improve.

There is a company that actually specializes in consolidating loans for people with excellent credit.  I was told about this company by a banker friend who has been extremely impressed with the way this company is doing business.  It is called FirstAgain.com.  It is actually stated on their web site that "Excellent and Substantial Credit Required".  No need to apply if you have trashed credit, but it looks like a good option for those who are looking restructure their debt and gain traction with their Debt Freedom March.

Of course, there are also companies that specialize in loans for people with horrible credit.  Payday loan joints, title loan sharks, pawn shops, and various other organizations provide loans that have HORRIFIC interest and should never be considered a viable option for someone who expects to gain traction on their Debt Freedom March.  I have yet to meet the first person who became debt free because of their rip-off payday loan.  I have met hundreds who have became completely hopeless because of their rip-off payday loan.

In the sixth and final installment of the Restructuring Debt series, I will be sharing my favorite way to restructure debt.

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Wow.  All I can say is, "Wow."  After reading all of the terrific comments, there was absolutely no way I could choose any single one of them.  So I ended up resorting to the old-fashioned "names in a hat" technique to choose the winner of Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson.

The winner is Casey Morgan who submitted the second comment on the review I wrote up about the book.

Congratulations to Casey, and for those who did not win the free copy, I highly recommend that you hop on over to Amazon.com and pick up a copy.  You could even bundle it with a copy of I Was Broke. Now I'm Not. and qualify for free shipping!

Congratulations again to Casey Morgan for winning the free book!

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Welcome to the latest series at JosephSangl.com – Restructuring Debt

I am excited to embark on this series of posts because interest paid toward debt is one of the largest obstacles to gaining traction for one's own Debt Freedom March.

Of course, one way to eliminate the interest is to sell some stuff and become debt-free.  But I recognize that for some people, they have debt that they are going to have to focus on and just pay it off.  If this describes you, then I trust that this series helps you gain speed in your Debt Freedom March! 

Part One – Know What You Are Paying

Part Two – Lower The Interest Rates!

Part Three – Lower The Interest Rates! – Continued

Part Four – Lower The Interest Rates! – Continued 

There are many approaches one can take to lower their interest rates.  In Part Two, I covered the "negotiation" avenue.  In Part Three, we covered surfing the balances to zero-percent credit cards.  In Part Four, I will be covering the debt consolidation option.

Debt Consolidation/Home Equity Loan

Another option to consider is to visit your local bank or credit union with your current debts and interest rates and see what they can do to lower your interest rates.  Be careful with this, though.  Banks are very likely to try to get you to use your home equity to consolidate your higher interest debts.  If used properly, this can be a good thing because you are probably going to be able to deduct the home equity loan interest from your taxes. 

But one thing that I see way too often is the fact that folks will consolidate their debts using their home equity and then NOT change their financial behavior that led to the debt in the first place.  The results?  A mortgage, home equity loan, AND the high interest debts have showed back up.  My advice is to prove to yourself that you truly have changed your spending behavior for at least six months before using this option.

I speak from experience here.  Several years ago, I obtained a debt consolidation loan for several credit cards and some department store debt.  We paid $315.60 a month (I still remember the amount) for FOREVER.  Finally the day came when the last payment was made.  Guess what?  Our credit cards were loaded back up with an amount equal to what we had consolidated in the first place!  We had not changed our spending behavior, and it cost us.   If we had consolidated the debt AND stopped our financial misbehavior, it would have been a great decision.

I know that Couple #3's Debt Freedom March has been significantly improved by obtaining a 401(k) loan.  I am NOT a big fan of this type of debt consolidation, but they had explored the "negotiation" and "surfing" options thoroughly and had run out of other options.  As a result, they have decided to obtain a 401(k) loan.  Guess what?  It has lowered their interest SUBSTANTIALLY and if you check on their monthly progress (HERE), you will see that this move has given them the traction they so desperately needed.

In Part Five, I will be sharing a resource available on-line that can be a huge help to those with excellent credit who are looking to lower their interest rates. 

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I am PUMPED to hear how people are applying the Total Interest Tool taught in Part One of the Restructuring Debt series.

I would love to see how you are using the tool to formulate your plan of attack for restructuring your debt and gaining traction for your Debt Freedom March!

For example, Kings Pray has blogged about how he used the Total Debt Interest tool.  You can read that post HERE.  Be sure to click on the link in the blog that actually shows the tool with his Total Debt Interest calculation.  I love transparency and people being real.

If you blog about it, please comment below and provide a link to your post.

Read recent posts by Joe 

Receive posts automatically in your E-MAIL by clicking HERE.

Welcome to the latest series at JosephSangl.com – Restructuring Debt

I am excited to embark on this series of posts because interest paid toward debt is one of the largest obstacles to gaining traction for one’s own Debt Freedom March.

Of course, one way to eliminate the interest is to sell some stuff and become debt-free.  But I recognize that for some people, they have debt that they are going to have to focus on and just pay it off.  If this describes you, then I trust that this series helps you gain speed in your Debt Freedom March!

Part One – Know What You Are Paying

Part Two – Lower The Interest Rates!

Part Three – Lower The Interest Rates! – Continued

There are many approaches one can take to lower their interest rates.  In Part Two, I covered the “negotiation” avenue.  Today, we will discuss moving the debt.

Surf The Debts To Lower Interest/Zero Interest Offers

If you live in America or any other heavily-leveraged society, then the chances are that you will receive numerous offers of debt every week.  Most of these offers have a “trickeration” ploy that generates consumer interest.  The trickeration is typically a “Zero-percent for some number of weeks/months/years” ploy.  The reason I call it a trickeration ploy is the fact that the majority of these debts are not paid off within the set timeframe and the interest rate is back-dated all the way to the date of purchase – usually at a very high rate.

But the zero-percent surfing game CAN work for you.  I have seen MANY people gain substantial traction with their Debt Freedom March through this technique alone.

Here is how the surfing game works.  You receive a “zero-percent for twelve months” credit card offer.  There is usually a $75 balance transfer fee, but there is no interest for the twelve month period.  One simply applies for the 0% card and transfers their high interest debt to the credit card.  When that introductory period is drawing to a close, surf the balance to another “zero-percent for twelve months” card.  Keep surfing the balance until the debt is paid off to $0.

If you successfully do this, you have actually tricked the trickeration ploy into working for you!

There are several 0% credit cards that you can apply for ON-LINE!  Click HERE to view the 0% credit cards available via the Next Steps division of I Was Broke. Now I’m Not.

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