By Webster Tilton It happens to everyone. The bills start to pile up, you put them off till the second notice…eventually you start choosing which ones you pay and which ones you let sit. From there the problem compounds itself more and more each passing month. How do you get out of this mess? ...

By Webster Tilton

It happens to everyone. The bills start to pile up, you put them off till the second notice…eventually you start choosing which ones you pay and which ones you let sit. From there the problem compounds itself more and more each passing month. How do you get out of this mess?

Debt can be crippling. Even when it isn’t it severely limits you and delays your goals, or forces you to abandon them altogether. All it takes to find yourself in it is one serious medical issue, or one household emergency that your homeowner’s policy doesn’t cover.

In the midst of all that debt it might be hard to imagine taking out a loan, but that might be the key to making your debt more manageable. Debt consolidation loans aren’t something that banks do out of the kindness of their hearts, they’re intended to earn the bank money. But they still work wonders for many people. It isn’t the right solution for everybody, but it might be just what you need.

It’s a simple decision, really. Banks, such as M&T, offer debt consolidation loans at a given interest rate. If that interest rate amounts to less money than the collective interest you’re paying on your various other debts then you save money. And from that point on there’s exactly one bill to pay instead of having to keep track of many.

Helping you find a way to pay back your loan is in the bank’s best interest. They’d rather have some of the money you owe than none of it. Consequently, many banks offer loan repayment assistance. M&T Bank, for example, has such a program. They work with their customers to restructure their debt payments and make them more manageable. Everybody wins. M&T also has a program which allows those who are experiencing financial hardship to have their mortgages reviewed in light of that situation, which allows them to make need based adjustments on a case by case basis. You aren’t the first person to find yourself in debt. Do yourself a favor and research these programs to see what help your bank can offer you.