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debt consolidation loans

A debt consolidation loan is an unsecured personal loan that you take out to consolidate multiple lines of credit card debt and/or other debts with high interest rates into a single loan, ideally with a lower rate.

A personal loan for debt consolidation is a smart strategy for reducing personal debt, saving money, and simplifying your life. Debts in multiple places can cause headaches and worry. If you get a lower interest loan for debts with higher interest, you could save money on the interest rate. Plus, credit cards often have sky-high APRs, and that is no good in the financial health and wellbeing department. If you have several credit card debts, it is always a good idea to explore what kind of savings you could get with a loan to pay off credit cards.

Debt consolidation is the process of using a personal loan to pay off multiple lines of credit debt and/or other debts. Debt consolidation could be a good idea if your average interest rate across all of your lines of credit and/or other debts is higher than what your personal loan interest rate would be.

The best debt consolidation loans cover the total amount of all of your combined debt so that you can pay off your different debts upfront, leaving you with one simple monthly payment. The APR on a personal loan for debt consolidation should be lower than that of your prior individual debts and that rate will be fixed—not variable. So, as you pay off your personal loan for debt consolidation, you pay a cumulatively lower amount of interest than you would have if you hadn’t consolidated your debt.

A personal loan for credit card debt consolidation requires you to make only one payment per month. That allows you to plan and budget your life with more clarity and ease. A loan through Prosper is also one of your best options for debt consolidation because you will have personalized support on call. Prosper provides Customer Care Advisors who have the expertise to support you at every step of the way, and a mission to advance your financial well-being.

Read more in Prosper’s article The Ultimate Guide to Debt Consolidation

Your credit score may drop slightly directly after you consolidate debt. Over time, however, a responsible financial approach toward debt consolidation can improve your score.

There are some potential short-term impacts to your credit profile that may result in your score being slightly lower initially upon consolidating debt with an unsecured personal loan.

The short-term impacts that may influence your score can include:

1. Acquiring a personal loan for debt consolidation will require a hard inquiry into your credit score. This can potentially temporarily lower your score.
2. Paying off your credit and/or debt lines will lower the debt you owe and lower your credit utilization ratio (or the sum of all your balances divided by the sum of your cards’ credit limits)—a key factor that affects your credit rating. However, a personal loan is an additional debt, and adding a new debt could temporarily lower your credit score.

What you do after consolidating that will shape how your score changes long-term. For example, if you pay down your credit card debt with a consolidation loan but continue to accrue credit card debt, the resulting cumulative debt will likely have a negative credit impact.

Consolidating credit card debt with a personal loan could help your credit by lowering your credit card balances and creating a higher ratio of available credit (or how much of your available credit you’re using)—another factor that affects credit ratings.

A proactive approach to debt consolidation can help improve credit. This entails a long-term strategy and a big picture goal of improved overall financial health. Paying off multiple lines of credit and/or debt using an unsecured personal loan with a lower rate can reduce your debt and lower your credit utilization ratio (or the sum of all your balances divided by the sum of your cards’ credit limits)—key factors that affect your credit rating. Paying less in interest can also help lower your monthly payments.

Making on-time payments on credit cards and other debts is critical. A long history of consistently making payments on-time is good for your credit score. Debt consolidation loans can be beneficial for your credit profile and your credit score, but only when used as a long-term strategy for financial growth executed with careful discipline.

It’s always important to note that everyone’s financial situation is unique, and credit improvement is not guaranteed.

Whether or not debt consolidation loans affect your ability to buy a home depends on your timeline for making your purchase.

It is generally not recommended to add any new debts or making inquiries to your credit profile prior to purchasing a home.

That said, if you intend to purchase a home in a year or more, consolidating your credit card debt now as a strategy to improve your financial situation could put you in a good position when the time comes to apply for a mortgage loan.

Everyone’s individual financial situation is different, and positive credit boosting results are never guaranteed.

Ultimately, when you set out to buy a home you want to make sure you have reduced your overall debt as much as possible and have worked to improve your credit score as much as you can.