<p>Interested in remodeling your kitchen? Ready to make an extension? Or have you inherited a home you want to renovate? Whatever your reason, a home improvement loan is often the perfect way to get financing for your remodel. But what are they, what can
you use them for, and what should you be aware of before applying? Read on for everything you need to know about home improvement loans.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>What is a home improvement loan?</h2><p><br></p><p>A home improvement loan is a personal loan you take out so you can make home improvements. This can be as minor as redecorating your living room, or as major as an extension or structural repairs.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>What can I use a home improvement loan for?</h2><p><br></p><p>In most cases, a loan you take out for home improvements is simply a personal loan, so the money isn&rsquo;t tied to any one project. That means you could use your loan for:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Structural repairs&nbsp;</li><li>Painting and decorating&nbsp;</li><li>Renovating your kitchen&nbsp;</li><li>Renovating your bathroom&nbsp;</li><li>Adding a garage&nbsp;</li><li>Adding a carport&nbsp;</li><li>Adding a new room&nbsp;</li><li>Getting your windows or doors replaced</li><li>Getting your roof replaced&nbsp;</li><li>Getting new siding&nbsp;</li><li>New flooring and carpets&nbsp;</li><li>Getting you heating replaced&nbsp;</li><li>Getting your air conditioning replaced&nbsp;</li><li>Landscaping&nbsp;</li><li>Improving your driveway&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><h2>Should I use credit cards instead of home improvement loans?&nbsp;</h2><p><br></p><p>For small amounts, and if you have great credit, a credit card may be a good option. If you&rsquo;re only planning to use up to $2,000, and you can get (or already have) a 0% interest period card, then that will be your best option. However, if you&rsquo;re
looking to borrow more, only have high-interest credit cards, or want to pay it off over a longer period, then you&rsquo;re going to need to look at home improvement loans.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>What are the benefits of a home improvement loan?&nbsp;</h2><p><br></p><p>Many people choose to get a home improvement loan to help them realize their vision for their home. Here are a few benefits of choosing a home improvement loan.&nbsp;</p><ul><li><strong>Flexible:&nbsp;</strong>home improvement loans aren&rsquo;t tied to one purpose, which means you can use the money flexibly to buy the materials you need for your home improvement, hire people to do the work for you, or use it to fix an unexpected
issue.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Home improvements are expensive:</strong> if you&rsquo;ve owned a home for any length of time, you&rsquo;ll know how expensive home improvements quickly get! Unless you&rsquo;re giving a room a quick coat of paint, doing any fencing, decking, or remodeling jumps into the hundreds of dollars for even a small project. For a big one, you&rsquo;re looking at thousands and tens of thousands of dollars. Few of us have that kind of money lying around.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>They allow you to spread the cost:</strong> home improvement loans ensure you pay off the loan over a predetermined length of time, such as 5 or 7 years. That means that, unlike borrowing on a credit card, you know exactly what borrowing the money will cost you, and when it will be paid off.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>They allow you to make emergency repairs:</strong> there are many problems that can arise with our homes that need to be fixed ASAP. An issue with the roof, heating, gas, water, or air conditioning can need immediate attention, especially during summer and winter, when the weather outside may make the problem more urgent. A home improvement loan will give you the money you need to make the necessary fixes.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>They increase the value of your home:</strong> unlike taking money out for other purposes, borrowing for home improvements is one of the safest reasons to borrow money. In all cases, the home improvements you make will improve the overall value of your home, meaning that although your borrowing money and paying interest on it, there&rsquo;s a good chance that it actually increases the value of your biggest asset.&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><h2>Should I get an unsecured loan or a secured loan for home improvements?&nbsp;</h2><p><br></p><p>With the average kitchen costing more than $23,000 to remodel, a bathroom $21,000 and even a wood deck costing over $10,000, it is no surprise that home improvement loans are so popular. In most cases, and for smaller amounts (under $35,000 or so), an
unsecured home improvement loan will be best. While the interest rate may be higher, an unsecured loan is essentially based on the promise that you&rsquo;ll pay the lender back.&nbsp;</p><p>A secured loan is one where you put up collateral to get the loan, and in most cases for a home improvement loan, this will be upon the home itself. While this may be necessary or the best option if you&rsquo;re looking to borrow a large amount of money,
it&rsquo;s also more of a risk. If you default on your payments, they can take the collateral from you to pay off your loan. For this reason, you should think wisely before taking out a secured loan.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>How much can I borrow with home improvement loans?&nbsp;</h2><p><br></p><p>Since most home improvement loans are simply personal loans, this will depend on a few factors:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Your income&nbsp;</li><li>Your credit score&nbsp;</li><li>Other debt you have&nbsp;</li></ul><p>Generally, most unsecured home improvement loans are between $3,000 and $35,000, though this can be less or more depending on your needs and circumstances. <strong>Our lenders typically lend between $1,000 and $35,000</strong>, and you need to have been
in your current employment for 90 days, be a US citizen, over 18, an income of $1,000 a month after tax or more, and a checking account.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>How can I get a home improvement loan?&nbsp;</h2><p><br></p><p>When you&rsquo;re ready to apply for a home improvement loan, you need to compare loans to ensure you have the best chance of getting approved and get the best rate. It&rsquo;s important to remember that you will be paying for borrowing the money, and so you need to get the best deal possible! That&rsquo;s what we do here at US Loan applications; we help you compare loans and find the best one to suit your needs and circumstances. If you&rsquo;re approved, you can pick your loan, and you&rsquo;ll be redirected to their site to sign the agreement. You&rsquo;ll often have the money you need within just a few hours. <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/how-it-works">Click here to find out more or get started today!</a>&nbsp;</p>

Your Complete Guide to Home Improvement Loans | US Loan Applications 

<p>Are you thinking about getting a personal loan? If so, you&rsquo;re probably like many other people who have wondered whether getting a personal loan is a good idea and whether you&rsquo;ve got a valid reason for obtaining one.&nbsp;</p><p>One of the best things about personal loans is that it&rsquo;s tied to you, not what you plan to spend the money on, which gives you flexible cash when you need it. If you have good credit and just want some additional spending money, you can likely do
just that &ndash; though that way will surely lead to debt problems down the road.&nbsp;</p><p>So, what&rsquo;s a <em>good&nbsp;</em>reason for applying for a personal loan? Let&rsquo;s have a look at the top reasons why people apply for a personal loan, and when that&rsquo;s a good or bad idea.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>6 Reasons People Apply for Personal Loans</h2><p><br></p><p><strong>1. Dealing with Debt</strong></p><p>Taking out a personal loan can be beneficial if you need to consolidate debt, particularly if it is a large amount but manageable. Debt consolidation allows you to make just one payment each month, i.e., paying off the personal loan, instead of a lot
of payments throughout the month. And better yet, you should be able to get a lower interest rate for the personal loan than of the debts you were paying before.</p><p>In September 2019,<a href="https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/survey-consumers-want-personal-loans-for-large-purchases-and-debt-consolidation/">&nbsp;Experian surveyed</a> 210 customers who were considering applying for their first personal loan and found that 40% of these customers were looking to take out the loan for debt consolidation.</p><p><strong>Good or Bad:&nbsp;</strong>Debt consolidation &ndash; especially in the case of credit card debt &ndash; is almost always a good idea. A personal loan ensures you pay off that debt within a certain time frame and makes managing your payments much
easier. The only time this is a bad idea is if you move the debt into a loan, only to build up your credit card debt again, digging you further into a hole.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>2. Home Improvement Projects</strong></p><p>In that same study by Experian, they found that 35% of people inquiring about personal loans wanted to apply to pay for work on their homes. <a href="https://www.homeadvisor.com/r/true-cost-report/?__cf_chl_captcha_tk__=0d17831f59c754784469dd27048d8226938f6aac-1589793774-0-ARESY57xWNf3klzl9pEYdE03CtxPEcP91AhoSFD8PcePa29TZ64mnabyPTgLlCwKyrGupwmU9KdkCqYUI62cNMk5ZcccRd_LZVhufk4tjSkwZ2R0NZqT_8eM9w6B_LSayXwyL4i7BbAN-Bh6YpHDMhsmFk5EXZSOCYoQw18s1vCye7Oe4urZqDcC-ESD22RRCwR3CdGLxJwhb0aN1xNZCUjT8HcUbsP4NYHCclx3NzoUncimP3YI6RrmchqmHFWYWjbYI5ddpgB72bAfbGp6Pn_ETU2hH4vAxW05wv2ir9yLLZiT3e73Mr0NLWgX-rSFxWHEuYczzzKI0RHyoLfcvdkxHP9Rjg_roGSphxx-2_bFgkZ6EYdpfui-0C67OgoYUi-2kObud64s5YG0z07WqCo_Adbj7ia-ily0bk_UrJNv6nDROSlOIeZONBS9qbhi0Cyp9RgkygL6slXeefvflKR6tHhQP6MMmWZQe4MXI4IO9DeOG2tt1ktxYmXfyIrCfUZYvrzzSF7MMk3QaCBsVeI">In 2018, HomeAdvisor</a> noted that customers were spending an average of $7,560 on home improvement projects, $1,105 on the maintenance of their homes, and $416 for emergency home improvement costs.</p><p><strong>Good or Bad:&nbsp;</strong>Provided you can afford the payments, and you aren&rsquo;t investing in a property you don&rsquo;t own or won&rsquo;t see a financial benefit from, home improvement projects are another good choice for a personal loan.
Home renovations (even on a small scale) are pricy, and if you do it right, you&rsquo;ll increase the value of your home.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>3. Purchasing a New Vehicle</h2><p><br></p><p>Next up is using a personal loan to buy a new vehicle. Sometimes, our old car gives out, and we don&rsquo;t have thousands of dollars lying around to purchase a new one. In that case, applying for a personal loan to buy a new vehicle is a must, especially
if you need one to get to work or for essential travel.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Good or Bad Idea:&nbsp;</strong>Good &ndash; especially if your car financing payments would be significantly higher than your car finance repayments. Better still, you actually own the vehicle, so if you had money trouble, you can talk to your
loan company, and they&rsquo;ll help you find a way to pay, whereas a car finance company will simply take the car back.&nbsp;</p><p>If you&rsquo;re thinking of taking out a personal loan to buy an additional car for pleasure, think seriously about if you can afford the repayments and if the deal on the car you&rsquo;re thinking of is really as good as you think.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>4. Traveling</strong></p><p>Many people take out personal loans to travel or to take a vacation. The Experian study previously mentioned found that 23% of those looking to apply for a personal loan were considering using it to travel or take a vacation. In 2019,<a href="https://www.bankrate.com/pdfs/pr/20190425-summer-vacation-survey.pdf">&nbsp;Bankrate observed</a> that 52% of Americans planning to go on vacation predicted costs on average of $1,979, and Americans in their 30s were predicting costs of $2,366.</p><p><strong>Good or Bad:&nbsp;</strong>Since travel is purely for pleasure, think long and hard about why you want to borrow money instead of saving up for it. Are you getting impatient? Have you been wooed by marketing that says you&rsquo;ll never get such a good deal again? Are you going to get FOMO (fear-of-missing-out) if you don&rsquo;t go with your friends? Consider if this trip is worth still paying off in 2-5 years&rsquo; time. Sometimes, you&rsquo;re thinking of <em>that&nbsp;</em>trip of a lifetime,
but if it&rsquo;s not that trip, it may not be a good idea.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>5. Medical Bills</strong></p><p>A lot of people will turn to a personal loan to pay off medical bills after suffering from a serious injury or illness, such as a major car accident, cancer, stroke, or a heart attack. If you have health insurance, you will be extremely lucky if it covers
all of your medical costs, and if you have no health insurance at all, medical bills can cause massive financial problems. A personal loan can help you to manage these costs.</p><p><strong>Good or Bad:&nbsp;</strong>Good. Double-check if there are any repayment plans, but if you need to get a personal loan to pay for medical bills, then that&rsquo;s what needs to happen.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>6. Starting a Small Business</strong></p><p>Many people take out a personal loan to give them the cash to start a side-hustle or small business.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Good or Bad:&nbsp;</strong>If you are looking to start a small business, but your start-up costs are too small to make it worth applying for a business loan, a personal loan could work well for you to purchase the software or equipment you need
to get started. Just make sure you have a plan in place before you jump in.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Do I Have a Good Reason to Apply for a Personal Loan?</strong></p><p>You need to think about what the consequences may be if you take out a personal loan. Due to interest rates, it may be beneficial to simply save up for something like a large purchase or vacation, so you don&rsquo;t end up with the added costs.</p><p>If you are thinking about applying for a personal loan to cover emergency costs, you need to be sure that you won&rsquo;t have to cross that bridge again further down the line. If a personal loan is just going to give you debt on top of debt, there is
not a good reason to take out a personal loan.</p><p>However, if you know that your borrowing is under control and you&rsquo;re ready to make a positive change in your life, a personal loan can be just what you need to take that next step!&nbsp;</p><p><strong>How Do I Apply for a Personal Loan?</strong></p><p>Before you <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">apply for a personal loan</a>, always make sure to compare interest rates and terms of the lenders to ensure that you are getting the best deal, since you&rsquo;ll be paying for the money
you borrow.&nbsp;</p><p>We do just that for you &ndash; simply tell us about yourself using our easy application, we&rsquo;ll compare loans and lenders to get you the one best suited to your circumstances, then you pick the best one, agree to the terms, and you&rsquo;ll get
your funds in just a few days. It&rsquo;s as easy as that! Check out our<a href="https://usloanapplications.com/how-it-works">&nbsp;How It Works</a> page for more information and to find your best personal loan offer.</p>

6 Top Reasons Why People Apply for Personal Loans (And Whether They’re Good or Bad!) 

<p>When you get into debt, it can feel like you&rsquo;ve lost control. Suddenly, you have all these extra bills, and it looks like it&rsquo;s going to take you years to pay off your credit cards as their interest continues to accrue at an alarming rate.
&nbsp;</p><p>You may fall further behind on making your repayments, which will push down your credit score which in turn will prevent you from borrowing money in the future.&nbsp;</p><p>Using a personal loan for debt consolidation will lift the weight from your shoulders and help you to get your financial situation back under control.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>What is Debt Consolidation?</h2><p><br></p><p>Debt consolidation is essentially where you take out a new loan to pay off all (or most of) your other debts. This allows you to stop all those different interest rates, all those different bills, and simplify it into one monthly payment.&nbsp;</p><p>The biggest advantage, however, besides the fixed interest rate and the single payment, is that you can pay off high-interest loans or all your credit card debt, so you know exactly how long it will take you to be debt-free.&nbsp;</p><p>If you&rsquo;re stuck with a lot of credit card debt, this can be life-changing.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>How Does Debt Consolidation with a Personal Loan Work?</h2><p><br></p><p>When a personal loan is used to pay off your debts, such as credit card payments, loan repayments, and other debts, you are then able to just make one, much more manageable monthly payment, to pay off the personal loan used for the debt consolidation.</p><p>So, why would a new lender want to pay off your debts? Because by helping you get your debts under control, you also &ldquo;transfer&rdquo; that debt to them, meaning you pay off your other lenders and pay them for the money they&rsquo;ve lent you instead,
via your interest rate.&nbsp;</p><p>The interest of a personal loan used for debt consolidation will be based on your credit score and your financial situation, and most lenders will have repayment periods ranging from 3 to 5 years. You will find that most of these personal loans are unsecured,
so you will not have to provide any collateral.</p><p><br></p><h2>Is Debt Consolidation with a Personal Loan a Good Idea?</h2><p><br></p><p>Yes, in most cases.</p><p>While there are a few pitfalls to avoid, consolidating your debt is nearly always a good idea. The only danger is that if you use the personal loan to pay off high-interest credit cards, and you then need to use those credit cards again, you will end
up in even more debt than you were in before attempting debt consolidation.&nbsp;</p><p><strong>This is something you should think about.&nbsp;</strong>If you think you may be tempted to use your cards again, consider closing those accounts after you consolidate.&nbsp;</p><p>Yes, that will harm your credit score for a short time, but it&rsquo;s nothing compared to what it will do if you can&rsquo;t afford the debt you build up and start defaulting on your payments.&nbsp;</p><p>A loan is always the better choice here. If you need to keep an emergency credit card, fine, but you only need one.&nbsp;</p><p>There are several benefits to debt consolidation with a personal loan:</p><ul><li>better budgeting &ndash; it is much easier to manage and budget for one monthly payment than managing many different payments of varying amounts and payment dates</li><li>your remaining debt is clearer &ndash; you will find it much more straightforward to know exactly how much you owe, how long it is likely to take to pay it off, and the interest being charged</li><li>you can boost your credit &ndash; debt consolidation can lead to a lower credit utilization rate, and you will have on-time payments, both of which can increase your credit score</li><li>you can build up an emergency fund with your savings, so you don&rsquo;t use your credit cards again&nbsp;</li><li>it&rsquo;s more motivating &ndash; you can even work on paying it off early (often without penalty), should you choose to.&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><h2>Are Debt Consolidation Loans Easy to Get?</h2><p><br></p><p>You will need a reasonable credit score to get a debt consolidation loan. In most cases, a personal loan will be assigned to you by a lender, and they will simply be more assured that the loan is being used for debt consolidation.</p><p>It might still be possible to get a debt consolidation loan with a lower credit score, but this will most likely be a secured loan with much higher interest rates.&nbsp;</p><p>This means that, not only will it be more expensive, but the lender requires an asset for collateral that they are allowed to seize should you not be able to make the repayments for any reason.&nbsp;</p><p>If you are worried about losing a personal asset, maybe even your home, you should definitely think twice about taking on a secured loan.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>What Do I Need to Get a Debt Consolidation Loan?</h2><p><br></p><p>To qualify for a debt consolidation loan, you need to have a reasonable credit score (though a &ldquo;bad&rdquo; score may not rule you out). If you want the lowest interest rates, you need to have a good credit score (typically 550, 600, or higher),
and you need to be in control of your debt, even if it is large.&nbsp;</p><p>You also need to be able to afford your new repayment amount (though obviously, your lender will understand that you will no longer have your other debt repayments).&nbsp;</p><p>Our lenders&rsquo; requirements are:</p><ul><li>in your current employment for at least 90 days</li><li>US citizen or a permanent resident over the age of 18</li><li>it&rsquo;s recommended to have an income of at least $1,000 per month after tax&nbsp;</li><li>a checking account in your name</li></ul><p><br></p><h2>How Do I Apply for a Debt Consolidation Loan?</h2><p><br></p><p>Applying for a debt consolidation personal loan is simple &ndash; but the best way to ensure you have the highest chance of approval <em>and&nbsp;</em>get the lowest interest rate available to you, is to use our comparison service.&nbsp;</p><p>Simply fill out our online application, stating that you want a debt consolidation loan, and telling us how much you would like to borrow. We will compare hundreds of loans and lenders and present you with the best.&nbsp;</p><p>We&rsquo;ll offer you the lender with the lowest rate possible, so your debt consolidation loan will be much easier to pay off. Simply pick the one that suits you, and you&rsquo;ll be taken to their site where you can agree to their terms &ndash; after
that, the money can be in your account within hours!&nbsp;</p><p>To find out more, visit our &lsquo;<a href="https://usloanapplications.com/how-it-works">How It Works</a>&rsquo; to ensure you&rsquo;ve got any info you need to <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">apply now</a>, and then jump to our application to get started!</p>

Debt Consolidation with a Personal Loan: How it Works and When It’s a Good Idea

<h2>What is a Signature Loan?</h2><p>A signature loan is essentially another name for an <em>unsecured&nbsp;</em>loan. Essentially, it means that instead of agreeing that the lender can seize your property if you default on your loan, they act on good faith.&nbsp;</p><p>A <em>secured</em> loan means you offer collateral (your property), but a <strong>signature loan</strong> simply means you promise to pay it back. Of course, if you break your promise, the consequences can still be severe, but you won&rsquo;t lose your home.&nbsp;</p><p>These loans are, in most cases, paid back by installments. This means that over the life of your loan (typically 3-7 years, but can be longer or shorter), you will pay back the entirety of your loan and the interest incurred. At the end of that period,
the loan and any associated fees are paid off, and you have nothing more to pay.&nbsp;</p><h2>How Do Signature Loans Work?&nbsp;</h2><p>Signature loans work in the same way as any other unsecured loan &ndash; you apply to borrow a certain amount over a predefined term, and if approved, you&rsquo;ll be offered a loan agreement. This will tell you what interest rate they are willing to
offer you, as well as the total cost of the loan. If you agree to the terms, you sign, and the money will be in your account as little as a few hours.&nbsp;</p><h2>When are Signature Loans a Good Idea?&nbsp;</h2><p>Signature loans may be a good idea if you want to borrow thousands of dollars to make a large purchase or improvements. (Our lenders offer loans between $1,000 and $35,000.) Since a signature loan is tied to you, and not what you spend the money on, you
are technically free to spend it how you please. However, taking out a loan should always be taken seriously, so don&rsquo;t take one out without a good reason to do so. For example, you may choose to use your loan for:</p><ul><li>Debt consolidation&nbsp;</li><li>Wedding costs&nbsp;</li><li>Medical bills for you or a pet&nbsp;</li><li>A new vehicle&nbsp;</li><li>To repair a vehicle&nbsp;</li><li>Home improvements and repair&nbsp;</li><li>As funding for your side-hustle business&nbsp;</li></ul><p>It&rsquo;s not often wise to take out a loan to cover an emergency, but if you believe it is necessary, <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/article/emergency-loans-when-to-use-and-how-to-get-one">read this article to learn how you can get one</a> and
when it is a good idea to use one.&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><strong>When Aren&rsquo;t Signature Loans a Good Idea?&nbsp;</strong></p><p>Signature loans &ndash; or any loan &ndash; are not a good idea if the rates are high and you are concerned that paying it off each month will be a challenge. Stretching yourself financially is never a good idea, and you need to consider what you&rsquo;ll
do if another emergency occurs.&nbsp;</p><h2>What Happens if You Stop Paying a Signature Loan?&nbsp;</h2><p>If you stop paying back a signature loan, the lender will continue to pursue you for the full amount, but they can&rsquo;t and shouldn&rsquo;t try to take your assets, such as your home or vehicle. Instead, your credit rating will be seriously affected
until you take care of the situation, meaning it&rsquo;s highly unlikely you&rsquo;ll be able to take out any form of new credit.&nbsp;</p><p>If you are forced to stop paying back your signature loan, talk to your lender as soon as you know there may be a problem. Communication is key &ndash; though it is uncomfortable &ndash; and many lenders will do what they can to help you through a difficult time.&nbsp;</p><h2>What Kind of Rates Can You Get on a Signature Loan?&nbsp;</h2><p>This depends entirely on your credit rating and history, the amount you want to borrow, and how long you want to borrow it for. If you have outstanding credit, the lowest you&rsquo;ll likely to get is around 5%, but most signature loans are in the 7-16%
range, many higher. Most signature loans offer a fixed rate, but some do offer variable rates, which means your payment could change significantly over time, so always do your research if you&rsquo;re looking at a variable rate loan.&nbsp;</p><p>To get the best rates, you should always compare loans before moving forward and agreeing to any offer. When you compare what lenders are likely to offer you, you can choose not only which lender offers the loan for the lowest cost, but also the lender
who is most likely to lend you the money in your circumstances.&nbsp;</p><p>What affects your likelihood of being approved by a lender are things like:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Your credit score&nbsp;</li><li>Your credit history&nbsp;</li><li>Your income level&nbsp;</li><li>Savings&nbsp;</li><li>Your outgoings</li><li>Other debt commitments&nbsp;</li><li>Whether or not you have dependents&nbsp;</li><li>How long you&rsquo;ve been in your position&nbsp;</li><li>What industry you work in</li></ul><p>And other factors. Some lenders will only offer their best-advertised rate to those in the strongest position, while others will offer a good rate to a wide range of people.&nbsp;</p><p>That&rsquo;s why it&rsquo;s so important to use a comparison service that can
offer you a realistic view of what you can get, and ensure you don&rsquo;t apply for a signature loan you&rsquo;ll be rejected for.&nbsp;</p><p>To <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">apply through us</a>, you need a minimum of 90 days in your current position of employment, you need to be a US citizen or permanent resident, to be aged 18 or older, and an income of $1,000 a
month after tax, though more is preferred.&nbsp;</p><h2>Can You Get a Signature Loan for Bad Credit?&nbsp;</h2><p>Yes, though that does depend on your definition of &ldquo;bad.&rdquo; If you have multiple recent defaults, you almost certainly won&rsquo;t be approved for a new loan &ndash; and not one with a reasonable interest rate.&nbsp;</p><p>If a couple of missed payments
has harmed your score, however, or you have high utilization, you will likely still have a good chance of getting approved for a signature loan.&nbsp;</p><h2>How Do I Apply for a Signature Loan? &nbsp;</h2><p>The application process for any signature loan should be simple, but with us, it&rsquo;s even more straightforward. Simply:&nbsp;</p><ol><li>Fill out our application form, and we&rsquo;ll compare hundreds of loans for you&nbsp;</li><li>We&rsquo;ll show you the best loan (or loans) for you, that we believe you&rsquo;ll be approved for easily based on the information you gave us&nbsp;</li><li>You choose which loan you want, and we&rsquo;ll redirect you the lender&rsquo;s site&nbsp;</li><li>Accept the lender&rsquo;s terms</li><li>Your money will be with you in as little as a few hours&nbsp;</li><li>On your agreed date, you&rsquo;ll start to pay back your loan in your pre-agreed monthly installments.&nbsp;</li></ol><p><a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">Click here to get started with your application</a> and see which loan options are available to you. There is no obligation to move forward with your application if you change your mind.</p>

What is a Signature Loan? Everything You Need to Know

<p>We all know that feeling of dread as something goes wrong, and suddenly you&rsquo;re faced with a bill you can&rsquo;t possibly cover. Sometimes, even a good emergency fund isn&rsquo;t enough to cover you for the challenges life throws at you.&nbsp;</p><p>One moment everything is fine, the next your car dies, or your furnace decides it&rsquo;s had enough, in winter, or that tooth that&rsquo;s been a sensitive tooth cracks apart. You need cash, and you need it <em>now</em>.&nbsp;</p><p>You&rsquo;re straight on the internet searching for emergency loans or a fast loan, and that&rsquo;s how you ended up here. Take a deep breath because in this article, we&rsquo;ll guide you through everything you need to know about emergency loans and
how to get one.&nbsp;</p><p>With us, you&rsquo;ll get the money you need quickly, with no fuss and a structured repayment plan. That means you can have a new car on the driveway, your furnace replaced, or tooth fixed &ndash; <em>panic over</em>.</p><p><br></p><h2>What Kind of Emergency Can I Get a Loan For?</h2><p><br></p><p>Emergencies are just that, unexpected and unplanned for. Here are a few of the situations where an emergency loan might be of help:</p><ul><li>Emergency house repairs (heating, plumbing, structural)&nbsp;</li><li>Vehicle repairs&nbsp;</li><li>Vehicle replacement&nbsp;</li><li>Emergency medical bills</li><li>Unexpected travel</li><li>Emergency vet bills&nbsp;</li><li>Debt consolidation for when a 0% interest period ends, and suddenly you&rsquo;ve got a bill you can&rsquo;t afford&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><h2>Can I Get an Emergency Loan if I&rsquo;ve Lost My Job?</h2><p><br></p><p>Unfortunately, there aren&rsquo;t any lenders who will be willing to lend you money if you can&rsquo;t prove you will be able to pay it back. All the lenders we work with require a minimum income of $1,000 a month to enable you to pay the loan back and
not get into a spiral of debt.</p><p><br></p><h2>What Do I Need to Get an Emergency Loan?</h2><p><br></p><p>Apart from a guaranteed income (our lenders require a minimum of $1,000 to be considered for approval, but more will improve your likelihood), you should have a good credit record. It&rsquo;s a good idea to check your credit score and look for any errors you can correct. You can get a free credit report from <a href="https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action"></a><a href="https://annualcreditreport.com">AnnualCreditReport.com</a>.&nbsp;</p><p>If you already have a lot of debt, that will also affect whether or not a new lender is willing to lend to you.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>Should I Get a Payday Loan?</h2><p><br></p><p>Payday loans are <em>rarely</em> a good decision. The average annual percentage can often be up around 500-700%, that&rsquo;s almost 100x more than personal loans. If you need a small loan for a short time, consider asking a family member or a friend. If you need a larger loan, you are much better off applying for an emergency loan through us.</p><p>If you are struggling financially, have built up debts and are unlikely to be eligible for a personal loan, consider talking to your current debtors. Try explaining the situation to see if they can offer you help or speak to a charity or organization
in your area with experience in helping those in a similar situation to yours.</p><p><br></p><h2>What Should I Consider When Applying for a Fast Loan?</h2><p><br></p><p>There are several things to think about before applying for a loan to cover an emergency:</p><ol><li><strong>You have a genuine emergency</strong>. Taking out a loan is a serious decision and should not be made lightly. For example, borrowing money because otherwise, you won&rsquo;t have transport to get to work is an emergency. Borrowing money because your heating has broken down in the middle of winter is also an emergency. However, borrowing money to redo your kitchen when a drawer breaks is not, and so you should consider all your options before taking out a loan and look at the best way to finance it.&nbsp;</li><li><strong>Take a hard look at your income and expenditure and make sure you can cope with the extra financial burden</strong>. Yes, it&rsquo;s a pain to do the math, especially when you&rsquo;re in a panic, but you need to know you can manage the payments.</li><li><strong>You need the money now but do the research.</strong> Get the right loan for you with the best rates, so you don&rsquo;t end up paying more than you have to. It&rsquo;s important to remember that you&rsquo;ll pay for the money you essentially &ldquo;buy,&rdquo; so it&rsquo;s worth getting a good deal, especially if you have a good credit history. The simplest way is to use a comparison site (like ours), so you know you are getting the best deal without having to spend hours on your research.</li><li><strong>Are you treating the cause or the symptom?&nbsp;</strong>Are you borrowing money to cover other debts? Consolidating your debt can be a smart move, but you need to think clearly about what you&rsquo;re doing. If you&rsquo;ve got a big bill that&rsquo;s
come out of the blue, take a moment to consider if you can&rsquo;t get a better deal or opinion. Obviously, some emergency bills are absolute, like medical bills, but if you&rsquo;ve been handed a large utility bill, call the company and ask them to explain
the charges, they may be able to give you a break.&nbsp;</li></ol><p><br></p><h2>How Do I Apply for a Fast Loan?</h2><p><br></p><p>Don&rsquo;t worry, it&rsquo;s incredibly simple and easy to compare loans and make your application with us. You can have the best deal and the cash in your bank account in just three steps:&nbsp;</p><ol><li>Fill in our <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">simple form</a> that takes just minutes.</li><li>We will compare lenders and offer you the loans with the best terms.</li><li>Once you&rsquo;ve chosen, you&rsquo;ll be directed to the lender&rsquo;s site to accept the terms and conditions. Once you&rsquo;ve accepted the terms, the money will be in your account in hours or a couple of days at most!&nbsp;</li></ol><p>For more details, see our website usloanapplications.com or <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">begin your application here</a>.&nbsp;</p>

Emergency Loans: When to Use and How to Get One

<p>The coronavirus pandemic has thrown many of our lives into chaos, with many Americans losing their jobs for the duration of the pandemic, or unfortunately, for good as their companies collapse.&nbsp;</p><p>Whether you&rsquo;re facing this situation or wondering if
it&rsquo;s okay for you to carry on as normal financially, we&rsquo;ll answer all your pandemic-related personal loan questions below to help you make the right decisions.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>If You Already Have a Personal Loan</h2><p><br></p><p>If you have an existing personal loan and you&rsquo;re struggling to make your normal payments, the best thing you can do is contact your lender and tell them about your situation. Most lenders are doing what they can to help people in this unprecedented
time.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>Should I Take Out a Personal Loan to Cope with the Pandemic?</h2><p><br></p><p>That depends on your circumstances and whether a personal loan would be a good answer or a very temporary fix. If you want to get a personal loan now while interest rates are low and keep the money as an emergency fund, or use it to live off for a few
months.&nbsp;</p><p>The problem with the latter is that we are unsure how long the pandemic will continue to stall our lives, and so you may not be able to take out a personal loan for six months&rsquo; of expenses and start paying it off after that if the pandemic goes
on for longer than that.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>I&rsquo;ve Lost My Job, Can I Take Out a Personal Loan?</h2><p><br></p><p>Probably not, unfortunately. If you have a significant net worth you may be able to, or if your partner takes it out for you, but generally you will need to be able to prove your income source.&nbsp;</p><p>If you&rsquo;re panicking, contact any lenders or credit
companies you&rsquo;re already a customer of and tell them the situation &ndash; they may be able to extend your credit or stop the situation from getting worse for you.&nbsp;</p><p>Then, do some research on what relief is available to you and any state or county
help you can receive.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>Is it More Difficult to Qualify for a Personal Loan Due to the Pandemic?</h2><p><br></p><p>In some circumstances, yes. Some lenders have tightened their lending restrictions so you need a better score or higher income, and they are going to be wary of lending to customers who may not be able to pay back the loan in a timely manner.&nbsp;</p><p>Of course,
no one knows how long the pandemic will continue to seriously affect us, and so they&rsquo;re going to be unwilling to lend to people who can&rsquo;t prove their source of income is secure.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>I&rsquo;m (Relatively) Unaffected by Coronavirus, Can I Take Out a Personal Loan for Home Improvements?&nbsp;</h2><p><br></p><p>If you&rsquo;re continuing to work and get your salary or income as normal (be that at home or work) and are looking for a way to spend your free time at home productively, you&rsquo;ve likely considered doing some bigger home renovations.&nbsp;</p><p>In most states,
hardware stores are still open, so it may even be practical for you to start these improvements.&nbsp;</p><p>If you&rsquo;re thinking about doing something that will cost a few thousand dollars to do, a personal loan may be a good option and there&rsquo;s no reason why you shouldn&rsquo;t do them now &ndash; interest rates are relatively low at the moment, provided
you have a good credit score.&nbsp;</p><p>However, it&rsquo;s more important now than ever to use a <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/how-it-works">personal loan comparison service</a> because lenders are tweaking their requirements and offers, so you need to know that the lender you&rsquo;re applying for is the most likely to approve you and is giving you the best rates.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>Is it Easier to Get a Personal Loan Through a Credit Union over Other Lenders at the Moment?</h2><p><br></p><p>It may be if you&rsquo;re already a customer. Credit unions look at your credit score, history, and history with them to decide whether or not to lend to you, not just your income.&nbsp;</p><p>So, if you have a long-standing relationship with a credit union and still
have a form of income, they may be a good option for you.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>How Can I Get a Personal Loan During the Pandemic?</h2><p><br></p><p>If you still have a source of income then the process of getting a personal loan is just the same as it was before &ndash; you should always compare the best personal loan for you and that&rsquo;s even more important in this time so you can get the best
personal loan terms for you.&nbsp;</p><p>When you <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">apply with us</a>, all you need to do is spend a few minutes filling in our form and then we&rsquo;ll compare all the best personal loans and tell you which is the
most likely to approve you and will give you the best rate.&nbsp;</p><p>To apply for a personal loan with us, lenders require:</p><ul><li>At least 90 days of employment and proof of it (pay slips)&nbsp;</li><li>An income of $1,000 or more a month after tax&nbsp;</li><li>You need to be a US citizen over 18 with a checking account&nbsp;</li><li>An email address and phone number&nbsp;</li></ul><p>When we send off your details hundreds of lenders tell us whether or not they&rsquo;ll approve you, and then we pass on the best results so you can decide whether to move forward.&nbsp;</p><p>When you choose one, you&rsquo;ll go on to the lender&rsquo;s site to review
the terms and confirm. In most cases, you&rsquo;ll have your funds in just a couple of days.&nbsp;</p><p>To find out more and apply, <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">click here</a>.&nbsp;</p>

Should I Take Out a Personal Loan During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

<p>If you&rsquo;re looking for a personal loan you&rsquo;re likely wondering which loan company is the best for you, if they&rsquo;re trustworthy, and if you&rsquo;re likely to have a good experience with them. Firstly &ndash; well done for doing your due
diligence! Discover is a popular option, and are known for high customer satisfaction ratings and a great reputation overall, but are they the right lender for you?&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>What Are the Pros and Cons of Discover Personal Loans?</h2><p><br></p><p>Here&rsquo;s an at-a-glance overview of the pros and cons of a Discover personal loan:&nbsp;</p><p><strong>Pros:&nbsp;</strong></p><ul><li>Trustworthy lender&nbsp;</li><li>APR rates are reasonable&nbsp;</li><li>Minimal additional fees&nbsp;</li><li>Customers are generally very happy&nbsp;</li></ul><p><strong>Cons:&nbsp;</strong></p><ul><li>APR rates start at 6.99%, which is generally high if you have perfect credit, as you can often get an APR between 3-5%&nbsp;</li><li>Charges late fees&nbsp;</li><li>No co-sign option&nbsp;</li><li>Unsuitable for those with a credit score of less than 660&nbsp;</li></ul><p>Now let&rsquo;s take a closer look and answer some common questions we hear about Discover personal loans. &nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>How Much Can I Borrow from Discover Personal Loans?&nbsp;</h2><p><br></p><p>Depending on your circumstances and needs, Discover lends between $2,500 and $35,000.</p><p><br></p><h2>What Can I Use a Discover Personal Loan For?</h2><p><br></p><p>Since a Discover loan a <em>personal</em> loan, the money is tied to you, not what you use it for, so you&rsquo;re free to use the money as you see fit. This may be a new car, a <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/article/loans-for-weddings-can-you-take-out-a-personal-loan-for-a-wedding">loan for your wedding</a>, or home improvements. &nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>What Can&rsquo;t I Use a Discover Personal Loan for?</h2><p><br></p><p>There&rsquo;s only one restriction on what you can&rsquo;t use a Discover personal loan for: you cannot use a Discover personal loan to pay off a secured loan or Discover credit card balance.</p><p><br></p><h2>What Rates and Terms Can I Expect?</h2><p><br></p><p>Discover is transparent about its loan rates and terms, so if you&rsquo;re seriously considering Discover, it&rsquo;s well worth reading through them on their website. Loan terms range from a minimum of three years to a maximum of seven. Interest rates
vary from 6.99% to 24.99% and are locked for the period of your loan. So whatever happens to the financial markets you can guarantee your monthly payments won&#39;t change.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>What Do I Need to Qualify for a Discover Personal Loan?</h2><p><br></p><p>A Discover Personal Loan isn&rsquo;t for those with a mixed financial history. The minimum credit score you need is 660 and the borrowers&rsquo; average score is around 750. You have to be earning a gross $25,000 a year, though generally a higher income
is expected. In addition, you must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, over 18 years old and have a social security number.</p><p><br></p><h2>If My Situation Changes Can I Change the Payment Due Date?</h2><p><br></p><p>If you need to, Discover will allow you to change the date on which your payment is made twice within the term of your loan, with at least a year between changes. Also, there are options to pay weekly or every two weeks as well as the normal monthly payment
option.</p><p>Borrowers who have problems making payment may be offered deferred payments.</p><p><br></p><h2>What Happens if I Change My Mind and Don&rsquo;t Want the Loan?</h2><p><br></p><p>Discover gives you the option of returning the loan in full within 30 days if you decide you do not want it or can no longer make the purchase you wanted to make. No interest or fee is charged for this.</p><p><br></p><h2>What Fees Can I Expect?</h2><p><br></p><p>There is no origination fee but Discover will charge, as of April 2020, $39 if you are late in paying. So if you keep up regular payments there are no fees at all. And if you want to pay off your personal loan earlier than originally planned there is
also no fee for that either.</p><p><br></p><h2>How Much Will My Discover Loan Cost?</h2><p><br></p><p>The answer to this question is different for everyone, and your monthly payments and the overall cost will depend on your credit rating, the amount borrowed, and the repayment term. As a ballpark figure: If you have an excellent credit score and want
to borrow $20,000 over five years, with a 13.9% APR, you&rsquo;d be looking at around $464 per month and paying $7,859 for the loan over that time.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>Are Discover Personal Loans Safe?</h2><p><br></p><p>Like most banks, Discover take security very seriously indeed. They monitor accounts 24/7 for suspicious activity and have extremely high-level cybersecurity systems in place.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>How Do I Apply for a Discover Personal Loan?</h2><p><br></p><p>Applying directly to Discover is straightforward. Typically this would be online but it is also possible over the phone. Discover uses a soft credit check to see if you are eligible which doesn&rsquo;t impact your credit rating though a hard credit check
will be used for the actual loan application.</p><p>Once you have checked your personal loan interest rate, based on the amount you want to borrow and the length of time you want to pay it back, the application process takes minutes. A decision is often made on the day you apply and if approved you or
your creditors will receive the funds. This can typically take up to seven business days. Discover does not permit co-signers.</p><p>However, we <strong>never</strong> recommend going directly to a lender, as you may get better terms elsewhere. When you&rsquo;re ready to apply for your personal loan, the best thing to do is to fill out our <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">form</a> to let us know what you&rsquo;re looking for, and we&rsquo;ll compare hundreds of loans to find the one that is best for you and your circumstances.&nbsp;</p><p>This minimizes the likelihood of being rejected and ensures you get the best terms and lowest costs. Interested in learning more? <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/how-it-works">Click here</a> to find out how working with us works.&nbsp;</p>

Discover Personal Loans Review (2020): The Best Choice For You?

<p>Let&rsquo;s face it, weddings are expensive. Even if you don&rsquo;t go all-out and just organize something small for you and your nearest and dearest, you&rsquo;re looking at four figures. And the average spent? $24,723. <em>Yeah</em>, that&rsquo;s a
down-payment on a home for most of us.&nbsp;</p><p>Of course, it is one of <em>the</em> biggest days in your life and one that should be celebrated in just the way you and your fianc&eacute; have always wanted. While saving up and a couple of generous parents will help cover the costs, you may decide to use a personal loan to help you pay for the wedding and spread the cost out over time, so you don&rsquo;t have to deplete all your savings in one go.&nbsp;</p><p>Today, we&rsquo;ll cover the major questions we get about borrowing money to cover wedding costs, as well as the pros and cons of doing so.&nbsp;</p><h2>Can You Take Out a Loan for a Wedding?&nbsp;</h2><p>Yes, you can, though as with any personal loan your eligibility does depend on things like how much you make, your credit score, current debt, and other factors.&nbsp;</p><p>When you apply for a personal loan the lender is lending <em>you</em> money, regardless of the reason why you want to borrow it, so the fact that you&rsquo;re borrowing the money for a wedding over home improvements or debt consolidation doesn&rsquo;t <em>really</em> matter. They may ask your reasoning, but this won&rsquo;t factor heavily in their decision to lend you money.&nbsp;</p><h2>Should I Take Out a Loan for My Wedding?</h2><p>That depends on several factors, consider:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>If you will regret not going all-out for your wedding&nbsp;</li><li>If your credit score and income will help you borrow enough for the wedding you&rsquo;re dreaming of&nbsp;</li><li>If you will be happy still paying off the wedding in 3, 5, 7, or even 10 years&rsquo; time&nbsp;</li><li>If you could cut corners and do some aspects DIY, would you be happy?&nbsp;</li><li>How many guests you want to invite over who you feel you should invite&nbsp;</li></ul><p>Essentially, whether or not you decide to take out a loan, you need to consider whether or not you can truly afford to do so and, if you can, if you truly <em>want&nbsp;</em>to. Borrowing money to create an experience for you and your loved ones that
will bring you a lot of joy is not a bad investment in your happiness and future memories, but borrowing money to fulfill someone else&rsquo;s desires is not.&nbsp;</p><p>It may be tempting to throw the big wedding your friends or family expect, but it&rsquo;s <em>your&nbsp;</em>wedding, and you should choose how much money you invest in it.&nbsp;</p><h2>Can You Take Out a Loan for a Wedding Ring?&nbsp;</h2><p>Yes, and if you choose your ring and loan correctly, it&rsquo;s not a bad investment, either. While investing in a wedding will offer you happy memories that will last a lifetime, borrowing money to buy your engagement or wedding rings should mean you
own an asset that keeps its value. While it&rsquo;s likely you&rsquo;ll keep those rings forever, they are a financial asset, too.&nbsp;</p><p>Many jewelers offer financing for engagement rings and wedding bands, so compare what they offer with the costs of taking out a personal loan to buy it instead to see what will cost the least over the term of the loan.&nbsp;</p><h2>Can You Take Out a Loan for a Wedding Dress?&nbsp;</h2><p>Yes! A personal loan can be used for any reason as the loan is tied to you, not to what you use the money for, you can borrow money to buy your wedding dress. Many brides dream about their wedding dress from childhood, so it&rsquo;s a hugely important
part of your wedding. If you&rsquo;ve always dreamed of the perfect wedding dress, taking out a personal loan to pay for it may be the right decision for you.&nbsp;</p><h2>Can You Get a Loan for a Wedding with Bad Credit?&nbsp;</h2><p>That depends on your personal circumstances. Since there aren&rsquo;t any loans designed specifically for weddings, you&rsquo;ll need to apply for a personal loan. If you don&rsquo;t believe you&rsquo;ll get a personal loan, then the answer is, unfortunately,
no.&nbsp;</p><p>There are loans designed specifically for bad credit, though in many cases the amount you can borrow on these loans won&rsquo;t be enough to pay for a wedding, or if it is the interest rate will be extremely high.&nbsp;</p><p>If you have bad credit it&rsquo;s worth reaching out to us to see if we can match you with a suitable lender, but in many cases, it will be worth giving your credit some time to recover, save up a little more money for your wedding, or choose to have
you wedding on a smaller budget.&nbsp;</p><h2>How Do I Apply for a Loan for a Wedding?&nbsp;</h2><p>When you&rsquo;re ready to apply for a loan for your wedding, don&rsquo;t go direct to a lender. When you apply directly on a lender&rsquo;s site, you forgo the opportunity to compare different loans and get the best one you are eligible for.&nbsp;</p><p>Instead, work with a personal loan comparison service like ours. To apply for a personal loan through us, all you need to do is fill out our simple form, we&rsquo;ll look at your details and connect you with the best lender for you. If more than one lender
is interested in lending you money, we&rsquo;ll let you know about the different offers you have on the table.&nbsp;</p><p>Then, you simply select the offer that&rsquo;s right for you, accept the terms on the lender&rsquo;s site, and you&rsquo;ll have the money in your bank account in just a few days. If there isn&rsquo;t an offer that works for you simply walk away &ndash;
we don&rsquo;t charge a fee and there&rsquo;s no obligation for using our services.&nbsp;</p><p>To find out more about our process and what you need to prepare before you fill out our application, <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/how-it-works">click here</a>. We look forward to helping you achieve the wedding of your dreams!&nbsp;</p>

Loans for Weddings: Can You Take Out a Personal Loan for a Wedding?

<p>A new year is the best time for a fresh start and to set goals for improvements you want to make in your life, and for many of us, that involves our credit scores or extra cashflow for changes we want to make in our lives.</p><p>Not only is it simply just a good idea to do your best to keep your credit score looking healthy, but it&rsquo;s the only way you&rsquo;ll get good offers for personal loans or other types of credit further into the year. Without a good credit score,
life can be a struggle. You won&rsquo;t have access to emergency funds, you can&rsquo;t consolidate debt to save money on the interest you&rsquo;re paying, medical bills can more expensive, and in worst-case scenarios, you may struggle to find somewhere
to live.</p><p>Fortunately, the situation is rarely that dire, and there are plenty of things you can be doing in 2020 to improve your credit score substantially. Here is our list of 20 things you can (and should!) be doing in 2020 to improve your credit score.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #1: <strong>Look at Your Credit Score</strong></h2><p>You can&rsquo;t fix something if you don&rsquo;t know it&rsquo;s broken, but we all have a tendency to put our fingers in our ears and ignore problems when it comes to money, especially when it&rsquo;s not looking good. <em>However</em>, that&rsquo;s exactly the time when we need to be paying extra attention to what&rsquo;s going on, so your first step should be to look at your credit score and know how it looks. Go to <a href="https://www.freecreditreport.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Free Credit Report</a>and
look at your report.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #2: <strong>Fix Errors</strong></h2><p>If you&rsquo;re new to credit scores, you may be surprised to learn that sometimes you&rsquo;ll get errors in your record that harm your score. When you look at you report see what&rsquo;s flagged by the site you&rsquo;re using, and check that all the
points are valid. If something&rsquo;s wrong, contact the company to put it right. You don&rsquo;t have to live with false marks against you.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #3: <strong>Pay Bills Automatically</strong></h2><p>If you&rsquo;re still sending payments manually for your bills, it&rsquo;s time to set up automated payments or get <em>really</em> good at paying them on time. Even one missed or late payment on a credit card or a utility bill (that includes your cell phone). Set up automatic payments or a specific day and time where you&rsquo;ll pay all your bills that you stick to <em>religiously</em>.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #4: <strong>Pay Down Debt</strong></h2><p>Have you heard of the term &ldquo;credit utilization&rdquo;? Essentially, it&rsquo;s how much debt you actually have out of how much debt you <em>could</em> have. For example, if you have a credit card with $10,000 of credit, and you have $1,000 of debt on the card, your utilization would be 10%. Your utilization includes all debt you have. The lower your utilization, the better your score.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #5: <strong>Don&rsquo;t Apply for Credit Unnecessarily</strong></h2><p>The people stood in stores trying to get you to sign up for a store credit card for 10% of your shopping are <em>not helping you</em>. In most cases, doing something like that is only going to harm your score, especially if you want to apply for a personal
loan later in the year. Applying for credit frequently shows you are fickle with your credit and will harm your score.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #6: <strong>Don&rsquo;t Close Lines of Credit</strong></h2><p>If you have a credit card you no longer use, just let it exist, but pretend it doesn&rsquo;t. That open line of credit improves your credit utilization and makes you look more attractive to other potential lenders. This doesn&rsquo;t apply if there are
annual fees &ndash; just close those because the fees aren&rsquo;t worth it.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #7: <strong>If You Have Little History, Get a Credit Card</strong></h2><p>If you want to take out a personal loan for something in the future, but you&rsquo;ve never had a credit card or loan before, it&rsquo;s a good idea to take out a credit card early in the year and start using it. Now, this does <em>not</em> mean go on a spree and let the debt sit there &ndash; instead pick an expense (like food or fuel), put it on the card, and pay it off each month. This will get you some vital credit history.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #8: <strong>Apply for Credit Strategically</strong></h2><p>Never apply for new lines of credit without a good reason for doing so. As tempting as it sometimes is, never open a new line of credit in a panic. If you think you need an emergency credit card, apply for that when you don&rsquo;t need it and keep it for when you do. If you know you want to do home renovations with a personal loan, don&rsquo;t apply for credit until you need it, and spend time comparing your loan or credit card before you apply. (You can <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">compare and find the best personal loan for you</a>by
clicking here.)</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #9: <strong>Contact Creditors for Lower Interest Rates</strong></h2><p>If you&rsquo;re in a good position with your score, but still have some debt to pay off, try calling your credit company to see if they can lower your interest rate. This is a bit like haggling for lower insurance premiums, so you won&rsquo;t always get
it, but if you do you&rsquo;ll save money in the long run and lower your credit utilization more often. Even if you don&#39;t think your credit is &quot;great&quot;, it is still worth trying. Worst case, they won&#39;t lower your interest rate.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #10: <strong>Contact Creditors for Higher Credit Limits</strong></h2><p>If you&rsquo;re in a good position with a creditor and your score, a way to further improve it is to take them up on any offers for more credit or call them to see if they can offer you more. This will improve your credit utilization and thus your score.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #11: <strong>Pay Down Maxed Cards</strong></h2><p>If you have any maxed-out credit cards, focus on paying them down some before you start paying off the highest interest rate cards (as most people recommend if you want to get debt-free).</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #12: <strong>Make Micro Payments</strong></h2><p>Instead of paying your credit card bills once a month, pay a little bit each week. Why? Because interest isn&rsquo;t added to your balance just once monthly, so if you pay a little often you can avoid additional interest and lower your credit utilization
much faster.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #13: <strong>Become an Authorized User on Another Account</strong></h2><p>If you have a family member with a long record of good credit and a high credit limit, see if they will add you as an authorized user of that account. This will give you more credit to your name &ndash; ideal for those who have little history. They don&rsquo;t
need to give you a card or any account details, but it will help you overall.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #14: <strong>Get a Prepaid Card</strong></h2><p>If you have absolutely no history, a prepaid credit card is an ideal solution, as it will allow you to build credit without actually owing anyone money. This is also called a &ldquo;secured&rdquo; card. Prepaid credit cards require you put money down. The amount you put towards securing your new credit card is the amount that determines your credit line.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #15: <strong>Mix Your Credit</strong></h2><p>Lenders like to see that you&rsquo;ve had different types of credit; auto loans, credit cards, and personal loans. Try using a different type of credit this year to give your score a boost. (Click here to <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">find the best personal loan offers</a>for
you.)</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #16: <strong>Take Advantage of Cash Back Offers</strong></h2><p>If you have a good score but haven&rsquo;t been using your credit for a while, consider getting a credit card that rewards you for the purchases you make often. This way you can put your spending on that card, get rewarded for it, and build your credit.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #17: <strong>Get a Secured Loan</strong></h2><p>If you want a personal loan but your credit score has taken hit in recent years, consider securing one against your home. While you should never do this lightly, if you know you can make the repayments it will quickly give your score a boost, and the
influx of cash you need.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #18: <strong>Avoid Buying Big Purchases with Credit Cards</strong></h2><p>Unless you have a 0% interest period or an incredible interest rate, it&rsquo;s never going to make sense to put a big purchase on a credit card instead of using a personal loan. Personal loans will nearly always offer you a better interest rate, and
&ndash; importantly &ndash; they force you to pay it off over a predetermined period. Credit cards can be traps &ndash; so avoid them if you know you fall into them.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #19: <strong>Check Your Score Monthly</strong></h2><p>Check your credit score each month to see how it&rsquo;s going and dispute any errors. A healthy credit score is one you actually know. There are many apps and services to help with this. One such app is Credit Karma, which allows you to check your credit
score every 7 days. Experian also offers a paid credit score service that will allow you to more regularly monitor your credit score.</p><h2>How to Improve Your Credit Score #20: <strong>Always Compare Credit Before You Get It</strong></h2><p>Never decide who you&rsquo;re going to go with for a line of credit before doing some research. Really, who lends you the money is unimportant (beyond being trustworthy and lawful), but what is important is the interest rate you get and the credit line or loan you get. Always compare rates before you apply. We work with people just like you every day to ensure they are getting the very best personal loan for them, so if you need a personal loan, <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">click here to Apply Now and we&#39;ll do the comparing for you</a>.
Our network includes hundreds of lenders.</p><p>It typically takes 3-6 months to see a good improvement in your credit score, so start now at the beginning of 2020 and by the time summer comes you&rsquo;ll be in a good position to take out a personal loan (or any other goal you have) to complete other life improvements. Don&rsquo;t forget that we compare personal loans for you to make sure you get the very best rates for you. You can <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">send your details to us here</a>, and we&rsquo;ll be glad to
help!</p>

The 20 Best Ways to Improve Your Credit in 2020

<p>Bank of America is the second-largest bank operating here in the US (just half a stride behind JPMorgan), so it seems like a natural choice for a personal loan, right? Right &ndash; so you head online to see what kind of personal loan they could offer
you, search &ldquo;Bank of America Personal Loans&rdquo; and&hellip; you can&rsquo;t find the right page, so you come here to ask the first big question:</p><h2>Do Bank of America Personal Loans Exist?</h2><p>Short answer: No. (At least of now - January 2020.) Bank of America currently only offers loans for specific uses, such as business, auto loans, and mortgages. They also offer credit cards, which may be an option if you&rsquo;re looking to borrow a small amount of money, but personal loans and credit cards aren&rsquo;t the same thing and, in most cases, cannot be used interchangeably.</p><p>Now that we&rsquo;ve got that out of the way, we can move on and start thinking about how to find the very best personal loan option for you. Read on to find out how to ensure you get the very best personal loan you can.</p><h2>If I can&rsquo;t get a Bank of America personal loan, should I get their auto loan?</h2><p>If you are specifically using your personal loan to buy a vehicle, then a Bank of America auto loan may be right for you &ndash; depending on your personal circumstances and type of vehicle you intend to buy.</p><p>If you intend to use your personal loan to buy a vehicle, spend some time exploring the different financing options available to you. You can do this by:</p><ul><li>Comparing auto loans</li><li>Comparing personal loans</li><li>Looking at possible financing options through dealerships</li><li>Comparing all of the above to find the best option</li></ul><h2>If I can&rsquo;t get a Bank of America personal loan, should I get a mortgage through them?</h2><p>A mortgage and a personal loan are <em>not</em> the same thing and should <em>not</em> be used interchangeably.</p><p>The only time a personal loan may be an option when buying a home is if you have a large deposit and simply need a small top-up that is well within your means as a borrower. Or, if you are purchasing a home in a very low-value area.</p><p>If you want to borrow more than $15,000, you likely need a mortgage. You also need to remember that lenders will ask you about any upcoming large purchases and that a personal loan secured against your home cannot be secured against your <em>future</em>home, so if you need a mortgage, look for mortgage specific advice.</p><h2>Should I use a Bank of America credit card instead?</h2><p>Again, take a step back and think about the financial product you need and why you need it. Credit cards are a great way to build up credit or use it to spread the cost of car repairs over a few months, but there aren&rsquo;t going to be many circumstances in which you can use a credit card in place of a personal loan.</p><p>If you have a great interest rate (sub 5%) or a 0% interest period and a big enough line of credit for the purchase you intend to make, a credit card may work just as well as a personal loan (just make sure you do your research and see what interest rates a personal loan could offer you to ensure you don&rsquo;t overpay for the money you borrow).</p><p>You should also ask yourself if you will make a concerted effort to pay it off each month, because if not, it&rsquo;s easy to get into financial difficulty.</p><h2>Are other lenders as good as Bank of America?</h2><p>In short: Yes. Bank of America might not be your ideal choice even if they <em>did</em> offer personal loans. You should compare rates and offers before you buy a loan (yes, remember you are purchasing a financial product).</p><h2>What Alternatives to Bank of America Personal Loans Are There?</h2><p>Personal loans aren&rsquo;t just available from large, traditional banks, and it&rsquo;s likely you&rsquo;ll actually find a better deal if you compare lenders instead of applying directly with whoever you bank with. Besides traditional banks, you&rsquo;ll also find personal loans from credit unions and online lenders.</p><p>Generally, online lenders will have more flexibility in who they accept and the rates they offer, as they aim to out-compete large banks and credit unions, so always compare personal loans before making a decision.</p><h2>Are online lenders safe?</h2><p>Yes &ndash; but just as with any loan, do some research on the lender before you agree to the loan, even if they are a big bank.</p><h2>How do I find alternatives to Bank of America personal loans?</h2><p>The best way to see as many different loans as possible in one place (so you don&rsquo;t have to spend hours researching!) is right here on our site. Simply use our comparison service to find the lenders who are most likely to approve you for the loan you need and at the best rate you can get.</p><h2>How do I get the best interest rate on my personal loan?</h2><p>The first step to getting a great interest rate is by being aware of your credit rating and, hopefully, by having good history that shows potential lenders you are a &ldquo;good bet&rdquo;, i.e. you will pay them back as agreed.</p><p>This means you have had open lines of credit before, paid balances off in a timely fashion, had an existing history for a good length of time, and so on. If you&rsquo;re young and you&rsquo;ve not got a lot of credit history (even if you&rsquo;ve never been in debt or used a credit card), your rate may be higher than someone with a long history of maintaining some debt.</p><p>Each lender has a different way of calculating who is a potential risk and who is an ideal customer, so your rate will vary from lender to lender depending on your circumstances. For this reason, you need to compare rates that have already been tailored to you. Going direct to lenders is time-consuming, and you are likely missing out on the best deal for you.</p><h2>What&rsquo;s my next step?</h2><p>Ready to compare personal loan rates? We can&rsquo;t help you find Bank of America personal loans (since they don&rsquo;t exist!) but we can help you find the best personal loan and interest rate possible. All you need to do is fill in your details and let us take care of the hard work &ndash; we&rsquo;ll let you know what lenders can offer you the best personal loans, so you can make an informed decision. <a class="fr-strong" href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">Click here to get started.</a></p>

Bank of America Personal Loans: Do They Exist and What Are Your Options  

<p>A personal loan can be the ideal way to get an influx of cash for home renovations, a new vehicle, some seed money for a new business idea, consolidate debt, or literally anything else you need money for, but the approval process can be nerve-wracking. Even if you think you look perfect on paper, applying for the <em>wrong</em> loan can leave you with a higher interest rate than you deserve, or, in the worst-case scenario, a rejection and a mark on your credit rating that will make it difficult for you to get approved in the future.</p><p>So, how can you put yourself in the best position to get approved for not just any personal loan, but the <em>right</em> personal loan? Follow the 5 steps below.</p><h2>Get Approved for a Personal Loan Step 1: Check Your Credit Score</h2><p>If you haven&rsquo;t already, now is the time to use a free or paid service to check your credit score and see what kind of standing you&rsquo;re in. There are plenty of credit score services available online, so simply do a search and choose one you like the look of if you aren&rsquo;t already signed up with one of these services.</p><p>Once you&rsquo;ve got it, how does it look? Check if there are any errors you can put right that will help you increase your score before you move ahead. In general, the higher the credit score the better your interest rate will be and you will be more likely to be approved for a large loan amount. The one exception to this rule is if you have very little credit history &ndash; if you&rsquo;ve never had a credit card before or any other form of credit, companies aren&rsquo;t going to be as willing to take a chance on you, even if your score looks very good.</p><h2>Get Approved for a Personal Loan Step 2: Secured or Unsecured?</h2><p>Firstly, decide whether you want a secured personal loan or an unsecured personal loan. The majority of personal loans are <em>unsecured</em>, which means the lender gives you the money and expects you to meet the monthly payments. If you don&rsquo;t, they can take legal action against you, but &ndash; in general &ndash; they can&rsquo;t take your possessions.</p><p>A <em>secured</em> loan is one that is &ldquo;secured&rdquo; against something you own; in most cases your home or your vehicle. This gives the lender the extra security that, should you default on your payments for any reason, they can take ownership of your possessions and sell them to get back the money you owe.</p><p>In general, a secured loan is only necessary for loans of over $10,000.</p><h2>Get Approved for a Personal Loan Step 3: Be Self-Aware</h2><p>This is the step most people omit, and so aren&rsquo;t properly prepared for choosing which loan to apply to. It&rsquo;s time to look at yourself and your circumstances critically and think about whether or not you look like a good bet on paper. Remember that your lender is both selling you a financial product (which you pay for in interest) and trusting that you won&rsquo;t default on your payments. Sometimes, a negative turn in your life may make defaulting unavoidable, but lenders understand that this is a very small percentage of their customers and so when they look at your details they want to see that you can easily afford the repayments.</p><p>Here are some points you should consider:</p><ul><li>What is your credit score? (Do you have good, okay, or bad credit?)</li><li>How long is your credit history? (Is it under 5 years?)</li><li>Have you missed payments, defaulted, or have other marks against you?</li><li>How much money do you make?</li><li>Are you employed or self-employed? Full-time or part-time? If self-employed, how long have you been making a steady income for &ndash; and can you prove it?</li><li>If securing the loan, how much is the property worth?</li><li>How much &ldquo;extra&rdquo; income do you have leftover once you&rsquo;ve paid all your essential bills? (This is a very important factor, as much of whether or not you get approved is dependent on the perceived affordability of the loan.)</li><li>If you have little history, do you have anyone who could be suitable as a guarantor?</li><li>If this is a joint loan, repeat these questions for your partner.</li></ul><p>All considered, do you look like a good prospect for one of the best interest rates or do you think you need to look at loans who accept those with average or even &ldquo;bad&rdquo; credit scores?</p><h2>Get Approved for a Personal Loan Step 4: Compare Loans</h2><p>Now you&rsquo;ve got an idea of what you will have a good chance of getting approved for, it&rsquo;s time to compare lenders and loans. The best way to do this is to use our <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">comparison service</a>, as this will help you find the loans that are best suited for you, so you can make an educated decision about which lender and loan are right for you.</p><p>Again, consider:</p><ul><li>What&rsquo;s the proposed interest rate? (7% or less is very good, over 10% is high)&nbsp;</li><li>What would the monthly payments be if approved for the advertised rate?&nbsp;</li><li>What&rsquo;s the likelihood of getting approved?&nbsp;</li><li>Do you meet all their requirements?</li><li>Have you heard of the lender before? (If not, do some research about who they are and check they are a credible lender.)&nbsp;</li></ul><p>There&rsquo;s nothing wrong with applying for a loan that offers a great rate &ndash; but if you are unlikely to get it or there is a high chance that you will be rejected, you are better off looking for a loan that is more likely to accept you. A service like ours will help you make the best choice.</p><h2>Get Approved for a Personal Loan Step 5: Prepare and Apply</h2><p>Now it&rsquo;s time to actually apply! Take your time with this process and don&rsquo;t become flustered and rush through. Most online applications will save your progress so you can continue later, and if you are required to fill in the application in one sitting, they&rsquo;ll tell you what you need to complete it before you start.</p><p>To apply online for a personal loan, you&rsquo;ll need to know your monthly budget figures, your salary and how often you are paid, any information on bonuses you get, and any income from other sources. At this stage, you likely won&rsquo;t need to attach any copies of your payslips, but they may ask you for them before making a decision.</p><p>This step can be anxiety-inducing, especially if you really need the money, but keep calm and read each section carefully. If you&rsquo;ve done your due diligence and used our comparison tool, you won&rsquo;t be out of your depth.</p><p>Make sure you read through the terms thoroughly before fully accepting their offer. In many cases, they&rsquo;ll approve you automatically at the end of the application process, reject you, or ask you to send them more information before they make a decision.</p><p>Ready to start the process? Click here to start <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">comparing personal loans</a>.</p>

5 Steps to Get Approved for a Personal Loan 

<p>Borrowing money should never be taken lightly, but there are many circumstances where taking out a personal loan makes better sense than trying to save up a large sum of money in advance.</p><p>As you may already know if you&rsquo;ve been doing your research or had other loans or credit cards in the past, once you apply you will get a mark on your credit score, so it&rsquo;s important to go into any application knowing exactly what you need
and afford to pay back each month so you have the best chance of being accepted on the first try.</p><p>To help you decide if a personal loan really is right for you, here are 3 questions you should answer and consider before you apply for a personal loan.</p><h2>1) Do You Have a Good Reason for Borrowing?</h2><p>Personal loans offer you a lot of freedom; while lenders will ask you what you&rsquo;re planning on using the money for (and that will have an effect on whether or not they accept you), once you have the money in the bank you are usually free to spend
it however you desire. If you know with absolute certainty that you can pay back the loan each month, the reason for borrowing the money won&rsquo;t really matter, but it is wise to only borrow money when it makes sense to.</p><p>For example, seeing something for sale that you&rsquo;ve not been on the market for, deciding you want it, and getting a personal loan may not be the right decision. But, if you need to buy a new vehicle, have urgent home repairs or improvements to do, want to consolidate credit card debt at a lower interest rate, or want to fund a dream side-hustle or business you know you&rsquo;ll throw yourself into are all good reasons to take out a loan.</p><p>Whether or not a personal loan is right for your circumstances is a very individual decision that you&rsquo;ll need to make, but if you are making an impulse decision give it a week before you move forward to check that this is the right move.</p><h2>2) Is a Credit Card or Personal Loan Best?&nbsp;</h2><p>Once you know your purpose for borrowing money, you may wonder whether a credit card or personal loan is a better way to borrow the money you need. First, answer these questions:</p><ul><li>Would you <em>definitely&nbsp;</em>pay the credit card off each month?</li><li>Do you need to borrow over $1,000?</li><li>Is your credit rating good enough to get a long 0% period on a credit card?</li></ul><p>If you aren&rsquo;t going to set up an automatic payment to take care of credit card debt, a personal loan will be better because it requires you to pay it back month after month. The danger of credit cards is that they are <em>always</em> there when you need them &ndash; and you can just pay a minimum on them and let debt rack up until it&rsquo;s out of control. If you have any outstanding credit card debt now, and still need to borrow, a loan is your best option for not getting into financial difficulty.</p><p>If you need to borrow over $1,000, a loan will also likely be your best option. In most cases, when you apply for a credit card you won&rsquo;t know what your limit and interest rate will be until they&rsquo;ve accepted you, but with a loan you&rsquo;ll
have a much better idea. If you know you want to borrow $5,000 for a new vehicle, a loan will always be the better choice.</p><p>The only exception to choosing a loan over a credit card is if you are borrowing a very small amount, want to keep the credit line open after you&rsquo;ve paid it off for credit score purposes, or if you can get a long 0% interest period on a card with the right limit.</p><h2>3) Do You Want a Secured Loan or Unsecured Loan?</h2><p>A personal loan can be either secured or unsecured. Secured means that you put something you own, such as your home or car, down as collateral. This means that if anything goes wrong and you aren&rsquo;t able to pay back the loan to a reasonable degree, the lender may take you to court to gain possession of it.</p><p>Unsecured means that they are simply choosing to believe that you are going to pay the loan back, and if you don&rsquo;t they will take you to court to reclaim what you owe. The difference is that, in most cases, they can&rsquo;t take your possessions from you.</p><p>Which is better will be down to your circumstances and how much you want to borrow. If you want to borrow a large sum, say $25,000, lenders are likely going to need you to put down a large asset as collateral. Unsecured loans keep your possessions out of reach, but it doesn&rsquo;t mean they can&rsquo;t pursue you if you don&rsquo;t keep up on your payments. (The moral of the story is whatever you choose, always keep up on your payments and if you get into financial difficulty call them and work with them to find a suitable solution.</p><h3>Always Do Your Due Diligence</h3><p>A personal loan can be the answer to many problems, and may be your only real solution if your vehicle dies and you need a way to get to work each day. Once you are sure you want a personal loan, it&rsquo;s time to look for one. It&rsquo;s important to do your due diligence and compare companies, interest rates, and terms before applying. This can be a lengthy process, so it&rsquo;s worth using a comparison service to find the best deal for you and the one you are most likely to be accepted for.</p><p>We do just that. If you&rsquo;re ready to find out what personal loans are available to you, <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal">click here</a>.</p>

Is a Personal Loan Right For Me? 3 Questions to Answer Before Taking Out a Personal Loan.

<p>There&rsquo;s no denying credit cards are convenient. For many of us, they allow us to pay for things safely and are our everyday card, or are there to cover us when we&rsquo;re in an emergency, but they can also become a trap.&nbsp;</p><p>The problem is, they often allow us to fund things we wouldn&rsquo;t otherwise be able to, and allow us to lie to ourselves about our ability to afford something or our willingness to pay for it.&nbsp;</p><p>Saying, &ldquo;I can afford it,&rdquo; is easy when you see something you want &ndash; or have a situation that <em>has&nbsp;</em>to be paid for &ndash; and have a credit card in your pocket with &ldquo;space&rdquo; on it.&nbsp;</p><p>Thing is, while credit cards can be a great tool when paid off monthly, as soon as we fall out of the habit of taking 1-3 months to pay off each expense, we&rsquo;re going to be racking up some serious debt and interest &ndash; debt and interest we often
aren&rsquo;t able to pay back.&nbsp;</p><p>Credit card interest rates are high (average of 17%) and late charges can be deadly to its affordability and your credit rating, so what can you do? &nbsp;Many take out a personal loan to pay off their credit card debt, but is this a good idea?&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>Should I use a personal loan to pay off my credit cards?</h2><p><br></p><p>The answer is&hellip; it depends. Here are a few things you need to consider:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><strong>Are your credit card interest rates high?&nbsp;</strong>If your credit card interest rates are already low (say under 10%), then you&rsquo;re probably not going to save much money by transferring that debt to a loan.</li><li><strong>Are you dedicated to becoming debt-free?&nbsp;</strong>You need to seriously consider your dedication and what you&rsquo;re going to do with your credit cards once you transfer the debt. <em>The biggest mistake you can make&nbsp;</em>is to transfer your debt to a loan and then continue to use your credit cards as you did before. You&rsquo;ll fall into a deep pit that&rsquo;s going to be almost impossible to claw your way out of, so if you&rsquo;re a chronic spender, you need to think about what you need to do to the prevent this.<br><br>Consider addressing the psychological aspect of what&rsquo;s allowing you to do this damage to your financial situation, look at your expenses and income and if you can change anything there, and close credit card accounts after you&rsquo;ve got the loan
if you have to. It&rsquo;s better to take a temporary hit to your credit score than end up ruining it entirely.</li><li><strong>Do you want to be &ldquo;forced&rdquo; to pay off your debt?</strong> One major benefit of paying off your credit card debt with a loan is that a loan has a repayment period, meaning you can&rsquo;t keep your debt forever. Credit card debt, if you only pay the minimum, can stay with you forever, but when you have a loan you can rest assured that if you make the payments every month, you&rsquo;ll pay it off by the end of the loan&rsquo;s term.</li><li><strong>Is one big payment easier for you, or are you more motivated by small balances?</strong> Having multiple credit cards can make the debt management process a difficult one to keep on top of. Consolidating it into one regular, fixed amount can be beneficial for your mental health, but if you simply want to get it paid off as soon as possible, &ldquo;defeating&rdquo; certain cards and balances more frequently may be more motivating.&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br></p><h2>When shouldn&rsquo;t I use a loan to pay off credit card debt?</h2><p><br></p><p>Personal loans are often the best way to get on top of your credit card debt and get back on the right track, but there are some circumstances when it may not be a good idea.</p><ol><li>If you can pay it off in 18 months or less, and the interest isn&rsquo;t crazy, you can probably just go ahead and start chipping away at it.&nbsp;</li><li>Your credit card debt may be a symptom and not the problem. If you are also having difficulties making ends meet, paying your utilities or even affording food and clothing then you need more help than a loan, providing you could qualify for one, would give you. There is help available. <a href="https://credit.org/credit-counseling/"></a><a href="//Credit.org">Credit.org</a> in particular will help you get back on track with some sort of debt management plan. They may even suggest that applying for bankruptcy is the best thing for you to do next.</li></ol><p><br></p><h2>What&rsquo;s the difference between a personal loan and a debt consolidation loan?</h2><p><br></p><p>There really isn&rsquo;t any difference between a personal loan and a debt consolidation loan, it&rsquo;s just a term the finance industry uses for personal loans that are designed to tackle debt. You can usually specify that your personal loan application
is for debt consolidation purposes when you compare loans or apply.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><h2>Requirements for Getting a Personal Loan for Debt Consolidation</h2><p><br></p><p>To get the best single figure APR loans, you will need a credit score of something around 760. As long as you have been paying at least the minimum on time every month then your credit is likely not to have been so badly affected that you can&#39;t get
a loan that&rsquo;s cheaper than the rate on your credit card.</p><p>If you haven&rsquo;t been quite so careful that may not be so easy and if the interest on a prospective loan is the same as on the credit card balance then there might be little point in moving the debt. However, you would get the benefits of fixed payments
and an end date.</p><p><br></p><h2>How to Apply for a Personal Loan to Pay Off Credit Card Debt</h2><p><br></p><p>Applying for a personal loan can be tedious and time consuming but <a href="https://usloanapplications.com">US Loan Applications</a> makes it quick, simple and will help ensure that you get exactly the right deal for you and your circumstances.</p><p>Our application takes just a few minutes to complete, and then we compare all the terms our lenders may offer and connect you with the best. We take all the drudgery out of the process and give you the greatest chance of getting the loan you need with
no hassle.</p><p>We can help with personal loans from $1,000 to $35,000, and you will often get an answer within minutes. Best of all, it&rsquo;s completely free to get the best loan through us, so <a href="https://usloanapplications.com/loan/personal"><strong>apply now</strong></a>.&nbsp;</p>

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