Hello,

I am interested in getting personal loan to consolidate some bills and have a little extra to take care of everyhting when my fiancee arrives. I am looking for about $25,000. Anyone have any experience or advice for me about this? I am new to the loan game and dont want to get screwed.

Do your research - non-collateral loans (not secured with anything of value, i.e., property) tend to be pretty expensive.

do you own your home? line of credit thru your bank?

All depends on your credit score, what you have as collateral, etc etc.

I would try to do it through your bank or credit union, if all possible.

I agree! Especially credit unions. Because you are a member rather than an account holder, rates tends to be very reasonable.

My advice is do not go into debt starting a new marriage. If you are new to the loan game how do you owe 25 grand? Don't make the mistake of getting into more debt. If your spouse comes here and thinks you have a lot of money they may expect it to continue, if you don't have money then they should accept you the way you are.

This is not a good idea. If you want to consolidate your debt into one payment at a fixed interest rate, thats a good thing. But adding to your debt, especially now, when the economy is tanking is not very prudent.

If you don't have the money to buy some things you need/want, save until you do. You wont be paying the cost of credit on top of the cost of buying what you want to buy.

Last year, my husband and I briefly considered getting one of those consolidated loans so that we would make just one payment to one institution every month. I was more gung-ho about it than he was actually because I thought the concept behind a consolidated loan was cool. He did some research and learned that we'd have to put something up as collateral. The only "asset" we have that is paid in full is the car I'm driving. But we didn't think it would be prudent to lock that up in a loan forever. Consolidated loans also usually take a far longer time to pay off and the interest rates can be high.

In the end, we decided to bite the bullet and deal with our credit card debt head-on. We knocked out the highest interest cards and cancelled a couple of them. We then transferred the balances from the remaining cards to a lower interest card. We are currently on track with clearing 60% of our credit card debt by Nov this year.

If you are determined to apply for a consolidated loan, please read up as much as possible and ask experienced professionals before you dive in. You'll also need a concrete plan on how you will pay off that loan.

Good luck.

if you have to resort to a loan, and if u own your home,,, take a "home improvement loan" you will get a much better rate and home improvement is very "relative".

if the debt is credit card debt with high interest... it is definately best to consolidate with a lower interest loan. more money at the end of the day.

it all depends on your personal situation

Are you a homeowner? (this includes things such as condos and even mobile homes in some cases)
Use the equity ties up in your home! Chances are, you will be able to get a good rate by using the home as collaterel. This basically means that you will get a better rate and there will be no negative consequences unless you dont pay the bills, also, you will likely be able to get a larger loan than going through other routes.

Not a homeowner? Vehicles can also be used as colatarel to secure a loan. In most cases, must have less than 100,000 miles on the clock and be 2000 or newer. It doesnt even have to be fully paid off, leased or financed vehicles can also be used to secure a loan.

Other options available - seeing if you qualify for a line of credit or possibly Cash on demand. Most of these options can be taken through a bank, but in any case you will need to go and see someone. I personally work for a major financial institution and deal with this exact situation on a daily basis, so if you have any further questions, or would like a referral, let me know!

The main advantage would be lower interest cost, not nessarily smaller overall payments. It makes it easier to pay back debt faster.

If you take smaller payments over a longer period of time, you wont nessarily save any money.

hello there,

We will be going VERY short at the start too.
We thought about buying a car for me (in LA it sound quite essential) but after turning the numbers everywhere, i just came to realise it would not work or at least not work with what i wanted.

The situation is uneasy, my sweety is still paying for old debts (thanks ex-wife) + a bunch of old credit card he used to use... and even went back to live at his (hopefully big) parent's place to take care of it faster. I am very proud of him (i hate credit with passion) with all the progress he recently made on the matter.

Our last thinking (we are still under a thinking process) would eventually to get a 13k loan to be paid in 3 yrs. (i am considering a personal loan or low interest credit card around 9%)
wich would make us start on an easier way and definetly without a car (I need to make myself a reason).

And when my income will kicks in, i will intensively help pay the "let's start" loan faster too.
What does include your "let's start" loan ? perhaps you can make better choices to try to lower it.

Our would include:
- 2x gym membership(3yrs) (want to kick in good and healthir habit as well as loose some weight on the way)
- some gym clothe/shoes (let's start in style at least) (thoses might be considered as frivolous but it's important in our mental)
- some shopping to make our bed comfy and feel more home (featherbed, sheet etc)
- the move of my stuff from montreal to LA
- a new computer screen so i would be able to work on some of my professionnal project
- aos, eas, ap immigrations fees
- a las vegas week end and drive through wedding
- basic rings (we will do fancier later)
- and a big amount my sweet will owe for his taxes this year (but next year should definetly include a nice return since i am gonna be under his charge for a few months)

As for a car, well, i will drive his and we will need to organise at the start at least to make it all possible.

My suggetions. You could probably wait on the gym membership and just exercise the old fashioned way. Running, Biking or whatever at home or in your neighborhood/parks. Once you are caught up, then do the memberships.

Computer monitors are not that expensive, at least not for the 19-20" range. Maybe $200-300

You can get cheap and custimized rings here: http://www.titaniumera.com/

Its cheaper to just get married with the justice of the peace in your home county. Save the honeymoon for when you have the time and money.

Cars are expensive, both to use and maintain. Go for public transport if its available, or work something out.

Amen

Again why go into debt more for things you could do without. Sacrifice a little and enjoy later when you have the money. If you have to borrow money for the things listed then he really is not in the financial situation to be getting married? I'm sorry but it is my opinion that if he has to borrow money for marriage, AOS, etc is it really the best time to get married?

Agree agree agree. There's no reason to go 13,000 dollars into debt for frivolity.

I wouldnt really call marriage and AOS frivolity.

lol me neither !

and at 32 and 37 i will not wait either !
(note... the marriage cost just about 100$ + gas and hotel for a honeymoon week end) so we are not talking about crazy stuff there either.

And the gym to keep the moral in shape, to be able to train, swim, do a bunch of stuff all at the same place.
The biggest chunk is the taxes, followed way after by the aos/ead etc.
Now, if everything goes well, i should have some good income when i'll get a job wich i consider a priority. wich also should strongly help to pay back this loan that we are talking about. (most probably in less than a year).

The screen for the comp is, yes, a big screen wich is necessary because of my work and the kind of software i use.

My point was to be able to work (on my portfolio, do extra projects, get new skills (and actually not loose any skills either)), go to the gym and train myself instead of just feeling locked in that nice home on top of the hill with nothing much to do.
I can consider not having a car till i work but everything else is, at least give me that, is for basic mental health ! (also the gym membership is way less expensive if you take 3 years (wich is worth the 9% loan interest on the long run)

Also, when you think about it.... better having a 13k loan with a fixed interest rate than higher interest credit cards starting to fill up. Same things for the taxes.
I have a kickass fico score, my sweet is lower beause of the debt of his ex wife (out from that debt he is almost perfect) and i wouldn't consider myself making that much of frivolous choices (ok sometime a little but with responsability).

Taking a loan to pay for AOS could be justified. The sooner you can get your EAD the sooner you can work.

As far as taxes go, if you have to pay a larger amount than you can afford right now. Contact the IRS and see if you can set up a payment plan. You should be able to do it for a low fee (about $52 if you use direct withdrawl) and no interest.

I would call gym clothes and new sheets frivolity.

However, I'm also of the opinion that if you need to take out a loan for AOS, which is only a little over a thousand dollars, you have greater issues than a loan will help with.

The taxes, i don't know.... i checked online and i saw 0.5% a month (=6% a year) for penalty and another 6% a year for late fees....wich give us a 12% a year.
My sweet still need to figure out the exact numbers. If it's indeed 12%, then a 9% loan seem more interesting.
If there is indeed such a thing as no interest and a 50$ fee it will of course be waaayyy better!

the sheet and bed stuff is a little frivolous fine, but it would feel more home also, more comfy and the first thing we would buy together.

the aos etc we could buy it right now, but we just can't do altogether, like aos + move + taxes + mini wedding and one way or another we will need to do all of it anyway.

So, on 20% credit cards or 9% loan, the choice is easy to make.

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc202.html

The penalty is assesed if you dont pay, or don't contact the IRS to set up a payment plan. They would much rather be paid, even if its on a payment plan, than to spend the time to try to collect the full amount.

Thanks for the link, i will make sure to forward it.

check prioritylenders.com,loan officer Alex wheat..He is very good...

thoses guyz don't even have an adress, that looks like a scam to me... also it sound to be mortgage anyway.