You'll have to figure out just how much you owe, on all of your credit cards plus store cards, and take out a loan that covers this amount, at least. This will be your first step for applying.

One thing to be aware of is the interest on your current cards, because it may be that these are actually lower than your unsecured consolidation loan. Since it would be silly to get yourself into a higher interest rate, the alternative would be to transfer the balances, if possible, to the card with the lowest interest.

If you do decide that it's best to go for the loan you originally planned on, the unsecured loan, the best thing to do is shop through lenders and price and compare. You can find all of the information that you'll ever need on the Internet. Gathering referrals from friends and family can be helpful in obtaining your loan.

Your credit and income will heavily determine your interest rate, the amount you may obtain, and the length of your new loan. Some interest rates are fixed while others are variable. You'll want to find all of this out ahead of time before venturing out on your debt management quest.

The process isn't always the fastest when it comes to closing the loan. To speed it up, you'll want to submit copies of statements of all of your credit cards and loans, to verify where the loan money will go.

Again, you'll want to make sure that the monthly payments that you'll be making on this new loan aren't higher than the payments that you were paying before; especially since the interest on these loan aren't tax deductible.

Be careful in choosing your loan, and make sure that when you're investing in your future your making a wise decision.

It is important to ensure that an unsecured debt consolidation loan reduces the overall amount of monthly payments and interest you pay. Also be aware that the interest paid on credit card debt or personal loans is not tax deductible.