Debt Calculator - California

Are you experiencing tough financial times and looking for relief? Do you also want to know how soon you could get out of credit card debt and other types of unsecured debts (such as medical bills, department store charges, or even utilities) by using a debt calculator? If you are, you may be interested in finding out how much you can potentially save by consolidating your debts.

These days, many consumers from California and elsewhere in America are facing the cold, hard truth that debts simply won't just magically go away. As a starting point, you may have started looking at your finances more closely or used one of the many free debt calculators available online, and realized that your situation won't likely improve unless you become proactive about your debt crisis.

The good news is, there is help available - including debt consolidation through credit counseling, debt settlement, or a debt consolidation loan. These debt relief methods have become popular alternatives to bankruptcy - which has a more damaging and longer lasting impact to personal credit. To find out how much money debt relief can save you, answer a few, basic questions to get a free debt relief analysis and savings estimate , at no cost to you.

How Consolidation Can Lead to Savings

The term "debt consolidation" represents a wide variety of debt relief options, but what it typically involves is combining, or "consolidating," credit card and unsecured debts into one, more affordable, and relatively easier-to-manage monthly payment made to a credit counseling agency that, in turn, distributes payments to creditors. Many consumers also refer to debt consolidation as a debt management plan, or DMP. When you enroll in a debt consolidation program, you will speak to credit counselors who would take the time to review your finances, and determine how much money you can reasonably allocate toward paying off your debts.

Afterwards, credit counselors typically develop a relief strategy to help reduce your debts - they typically do this by submitting proposals (on your behalf) to creditors asking for reduced interest rates, or the waiving or elimination of any late fees or penalties. Creditors that agree to the proposals are placed into the debt management plan.

The goal of relief through debt consolidation is, with a single, more structured, and more affordable payment plan, you can ideally direct more of your payment towards paying off the principal of your loans rather than just the interest - and eventually, reduce your debts sooner than if you continued making the monthly payments on your credit card debts at higher interest rates.

What Are Debt Consolidation Loans?

Many consumers often make the mistake of thinking that debt consolidation or debt management is the same as taking out a debt consolidation loan, but they're making a wrong assumption. Debt consolidation usually involves combining your unsecured and credit card debts into a single, more affordable payment plan made to a credit counseling agency. In contrast, with a debt consolidation loan, you are combining your high-interest debts into one, lower interest loan--there is generally no credit counseling involved.

A debt consolidation loan involves taking unsecured debt and paying it off with funds that come by way of a "secured" loan. In other words, it is a loan where you would have typically put up your home or other asset to get approved. In many cases, consumers who get approved for a debt consolidation loan generally end up using their credit cards again. As a result, many of them will have new, high-interest credit card debts to deal with on top of their loan.

Under this scenario, a debt consolidation loan has generally not provided relief but made their debt situation go from bad to worse. When you consider some of the hidden pitfalls that may occur when taking out a debt consolidation loan, it is wiser to explore your other debt relief options that may help you reduce your debts, but also give you some guidance about budgeting and finances.

How Much Can You Save by Consolidating?

Each individual's debt situation is unique, as are the reasons for getting into debt in the first place. For many consumers struggling to pay off debts, the reasons vary - from having lost or reduced income, rising medical expenses, or an unexpected personal crisis. But regardless of the reasons of why you are in a debt, credit counseling may be able to help manage your debts and potentially lead to savings.

However, calculating the amount of savings that you can get, every month, depends on how much you currently owe, the current interest rates that you are paying, and any late fees or penalties you have. With a debt consolidation program, you will be provided with a more structured and more lenient repayment plan that can help you pay off your debts in more predictable timeframe and sooner than if you only continued to make the minimum monthly payments at higher interest rates.

To get started, request a free debt relief analysis and savings estimate - now.