Many people are in a bad way these days as it pertains to their finances. Some people aren't in as much trouble as they think they are, whereas some are much worse off than they knew. No matter which direction your finances are in, if you're thinking about doing some kind of debt consolidation, you need to know some of the terms and rules that you might end up running into.

You need to get over the fear and try to determine if you're in big trouble, little trouble, or no trouble. You need to know this because it will determine what kind of help you need to go for.

For instance, if you're in little trouble, a debt consolidation loan might be the way to go. A debt consolidation loan can be in the form of a line of credit or an actual bank loan. The determination will be if you'll have enough money after obtaining the loan to still pay your bills and have some kind of life.

If you're going to be able to go for a debt consolidation loan, and you don't go for the line of credit, then you should shop around for the best deal you can get. Usually credit unions will offer the best deals, but some credit unions make you join them, or have a relative who's a member. Often, your own bank will be easier on you if you've had a good relationship with them over a number of years.

There are two different kinds of loans, and you need to know these terms. One is a ?secured? loan, which means taking a determination of your assets against your debts and using your assets as collateral against your loan.

The other is known as an ?unsecured?, or ?non-secured loan. This usually means they don't look all that hard at your assets, but your interest rate will be much higher than with a secured loan. If the interest rate is still much lower than what your outstanding debt is, then you might still be ahead in the end.

For both of these, it's possible that you may not get the amount of the loan that you're looking to get. That's something else you'll have to think about to see if you still think the loan is worth taking.

These are only a few things you'll have to be wary of if you're going to go through with debt consolidation. Always remember to do your research before you decide to go this route.