Denton County Living Well Magazine January/February 2019 | Page 22

DEBT DOES NOT
HAVE TO BE
YOUR REALITY
M
By Glen McKenzie
any view a new year
as a new beginning.
Just think about the in-
crease in health club
memberships and diet
crazes that thousands rush into every
January. As you begin a new year, are
you thinking about a healthy financial
future? Sit down with someone you trust, per-
haps at your credit union or bank,
and see if there are options that might
make sense. Depending on your lev-
el of debt, some options include:
You can start by making a list of all the
debt you have accumulated with notes
on the balances and interest rates. In-
clude credit card debt, student loans,
home, auto and personal loans. You
can make this a year to get out of debt
or take big steps in reducing it. You may want to consider a home eq-
uity loan. Here, you are using the eq-
uity that you have accumulated in your
home to pay off high interest rate debt.
20
• If you are a homeowner, a home equity
loan.
• A personal loan for debt consolidation.
Home equity loan rates are much low-
er than credit card rates; remember
DENTON COUNTY Living Well Magazine | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019
that this can be a risk because you
are paying off unsecured debt (credit
cards, loans, etc.) with money secured
by your home.
For those who may not have equi-
ty built up in their homes, another
possibility is a debt consolidation
loan. You combine all outstanding
debt into a single loan. With a debt
consolidation loan, you will have
one loan payment instead of multi-
ple payments every month. You may
save money because the interest rate
could be lower.
There is no quick fix to get out of debt.