Understanding Debt Starts With a Plan

Managing debt begins with understanding what you owe, how your payments work, and what options may be available to you.

Get a Clearer Picture of Your Debt

Debt can come in many forms, with different interest rates, payment requirements, and repayment terms. Understanding these details can help you organize your finances and evaluate your options.

Know What You Owe

Keep track of balances, interest rates, minimum payments, fees, and payment dates.

Manage Your Debt

Organize obligations, create a budget, and review repayment progress regularly.

Review Your Financial Position

Consider income, regular expenses, outstanding balances, and financial priorities together.

Understand Your Payments

Learn how payments may be applied toward interest, fees, and principal balances.

Make Informed Decisions

Understand available approaches and evaluate their costs and requirements.

What Is Debt Management?

Debt management refers to the process of organizing, reviewing, and managing outstanding debt. It can include creating a budget, developing a repayment plan, understanding borrowing costs, and evaluating different approaches to managing existing obligations.

Explore Different Ways to Approach Repayment

Different methods for organizing debt repayment have different characteristics. Consider how each approach fits your monthly income, essential expenses, and existing obligations.

Higher-Interest Debt

Smaller Balances

Structured Budgeting

Direct additional available funds toward higher-interest debt while maintaining required payments elsewhere.

Medical Debt

Understand outstanding medical balances and potential payment arrangements.

Understanding Debt Consolidation

Debt consolidation generally involves combining multiple debts into a single obligation. Depending on the arrangement, consolidation may change the number of payments, interest rate, monthly payment, fees, or repayment period.

A lower monthly payment does not necessarily mean a lower total cost.