While this is generally only a transfer of debt from one place to another you can often get better interest rates on these new loans, particularly if you get it through your bank as a personal loan or by using your home as equity and that in itself can save you money.

By consolidating your debt at a lower interest rate you will be able to reduce your debt faster and in the process have the ability to pay off your high interest debts sooner.

It might also give you the ability to take advantage of saving money by making your loan repayments earlier and sometimes you can get discounts for paying debt on time.

Having one loan rather than a number of individual debts can make your budgeting a lot easier and can also reduce the number of debt collectors who could be calling at your door seeking payment of outstanding debts.

If you do decide to consolidate your debt then calculate precisely how much you need, to cover the various debts that you want to clear, and use the new loan to pay off that debt immediately otherwise you might be tempted to use the money elsewhere and in doing so create even more debt.

It might even be worthwhile having your new consolidated debt payable over a longer term to reduce your monthly payments and help you to focus on other more important or higher interest debts sooner.

The whole idea of debt consolidation is to improve your financial position and you should be looking at ways that you can do this. You must make sure that the interest payable on your new consolidated debt is fixed at a rate that you can budget for as it is too risky getting a variable interest rate loan where the rates could rise and leave you in a more difficult position than you would have been had you not consolidated.

If you are working with a credit counseling agency then discuss your intentions with them beforehand and get their expert advice on what the best solution for you will be.