Credit Q&A

Debt consolidation is often a convenient choice for people looking to convert smaller loans into one large loan. Multiple bills and smaller debt piles will be collapsed into one large debt repayment plan. This not only provides the convenience of one monthly bill instead of many, but consolidation might help you save on interest and get out of debt faster.

You're going to have to do some serious number crunching to see if debt consolidation works for you, but in short you should compare the overall debt repayment costs of your current debts with the overall repayment cost of the consolidation loan. One of the nice components of debt consolidation is that, generally, your monthly payment is less than the combined amount of minimums due on your previous smaller debts. Once you consolidate your debts, try to use the additional freed up monthly minimums to pay down your new consolidation loan quicker.

If you decide debt consolidation is for you, be sure to shop around different debt consolidation plans to compare interest rates and savings. You can go with a third-party company that will charge additional fees or you can look at debt consolidated loans through a bank or credit union. Debt consolidation can help you get out of debt more efficiently, but it is no quick fix-it; so if a consolidation plan looks too good to be true, it probably is.

Filed under: Credit