The Best Ways to Manage Debt Online

Nowadays, you can do almost anything online. Managing your finances is no exception. Plenty of online tools, apps, and other debt management services exist to make managing debt online easier. In fact, many people are able to start getting out of debt for good using these online tools and services. There are several basic ways that you can use the internet to better manage your finances either independently or together as a part of a concerted effort to get your debt back under control.

1. Free Online Debt Tools

If you just Google debt management tools, you will come up with thousands of results for free and paid-service debt tools. Some are excellent, and others are not so useful. Still, these tools often are the best place to start when you feel in over your head with debt. These three are our favorite free options:

• Unbury.Me: This is just a simple and straightforward calculator tool that helps you calculate which debt payoff method may work best for you. Simply input several factors and let it show you the pros and cons of each strategy.
• The Debt Eliminator: This is a customized plan created by financial guru Suze Orman. You can use her free tool to learn some of the custom options you have to get out of debt. Be aware that this does skew towards suggesting a debt snowball plan.
• CNN Debt Calculator: This tool provided by CNN Money helps you understand better when you will be out of debt once you have chosen a debt strategy. Plus, it helps you decide if a certain payment plan or change will actually be worth it in the long run.

2. Online Debt Management Apps

If you are like most people, you probably have a host of apps on your phone that are basically useless. Why not add a few that can help your financial health? These three are the most popular right now, but there are many others out there that can help:

• ReadyForZero: This app lets you get a total picture of your debts, make a payment plan, check your credit score, and make debt payments. This app is great for tracking your progress towards eliminating debt, and you even receive email alerts each time you reach a predetermined milestone.
• Debt Manager: This tool is great for people who want to be more active in planning out what they can do to manage debt. It has features that suggest debt reduction plans, but also has an easy-to-use modeling function, so that you can test out any “what-if” scenario.
• Pay Off Debt: The Pay Off Debt app helps you create long-term solutions to your debt by helping you establish good habits. It is much easier to customize than any other apps out there, so that you can set financial goals other than paying off debts and even add personal debts of any size. You are in control of prioritizing debt as you wish, but it does make suggestions.

3. Financial Planning/ Debt Management Online Subscription Services or Platforms

Since debts are a part of your overall financial health, many online platforms focused on financial planning have a large section on debt management. One popular option is Mint. Mint allows you to pay your bills, manage your debts and learn about your financial habits in order to improve them using the app and online platform.

Another growing online financial planning and debt management platform is the LearnVest Financial Planning Program. While LearnVest focuses more on investments, it has a great system for creating custom debt payoff plan with the support of a financial planner. This can be very helpful if you have a particularly large or unique debt burden.

For many people, these online tools will be enough to get back on track with their debts. For many others, though, they are only part of the ultimate solution. If you have serious debts and cannot make the payments even after playing around with your debt burden or trying these online tools, it can still help to use traditional solutions. At Luftman, Heck & Associates, we know how challenging it can sometimes be to get your debts in order without experienced consumer help. If you feel overwhelmed by your debts call us at (888) 726-3181 for a free consultation to see how we may be able to help in your particular situation.