Becoming debt free can be done in 120 days or less if you file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Minnesota. To ensure the process is completed in three-four months, work with a bankruptcy attorney. A bankruptcy attorney will be your guide through the legal jargon, court meetings and mountains of paperwork, ensuring you complete all steps accurately and in a timely manner.

You cannot and should not borrow your way out of debt, especially if you are currently not able to manage your debt. Doing so will result in extended payment plans, and, in the end, you will be deeper in debt than when you started. This is precisely the foundation that debt consolidation programs are built on. By extending your debt timeline you will pay more money; that money then gets paid to the debt consolidation company you “hire” to help you manage your debt.

Chapter 13 bankruptcy, also called a “wage-earners” bankruptcy, is essentially a repayment plan based on what you can afford. It allows you to prioritize your debt and make payments based on your income. This plan is best for those who are experiencing a temporary setback and need some time and space to breathe, in order to get their financial situation under control.

Overview of Debt Settlement Programs

The third blog in our debt consolidation solutions series focuses on debt settlement programs. It functions by halting all payments you are making to creditors and requires you to close your accounts. Instead, you will make monthly payments (usually lower than your current payments) to a trust account. When that account has built up enough to pay off your debt in full, the debt settlement program company will begin negotiations with your creditors. They will also attempt to negotiate a lower debt amount by offering to make a lump sum payment.

Debt consolidation can be a very confusing concept because financial terminology is complicated and contracts can be very convoluted. The term itself, debt consolidation, is confusing because it can be used to describe a group of debt solutions or as an individual option. For simplification purposes we are going to use the term ‘debt consolidation’ to describe the general concept of combining multiple unsecured debts into one.

Credit card companies are in business to make money and we make it very easy for them to be profitable. Credit cards fulfill our need for instant gratification. It is very easy to spend money on a credit card because there is no physical exchange of cash and you are not expected to pay at the time of transaction. This process plays upon humans’ need for instant gratification.