When you are up to your ears in debt and writing several different checks each month, to a variety of creditors makes the thought of combining all of your debts into one low monthly payment very appealing. Remember though there is never a quick fix to anything in life that works well. It took you a few years to accumulate the debt you should expect that it would take at least that long to get out of debt. Receiving debt consolidation help is an alternative to filing bankruptcy. How do you know if debt consolidation is the best choice for you? Looking at the options available will help you make that decision.

You can use a variety of methods to receive help with your consolidating your debt such as:

* Unsecured loans - is a type of loan that does not need any collateral (such as your home) and you can use it to pay off all your debts. Instead of writing several checks at the beginning of each month, you will write one to your lender.

* Secured loan - is a type of loan that uses your home or other item with substantial equity to secure the loan to use in paying off your debts. You will then have only one low monthly repayment.

* Transferring balances - This is where you can transfer the balances from several of your credit cards over to another credit card. Thus paying off the balances and only paying the monthly requirement on one card.

The advantages to this type of debt consolidation help is that you will enjoy lower interest rates, substantially lower monthly payments, and paying one creditor per month as opposed to several. The disadvantages are the cost of settling an existing loan and negotiating for a new loan can be significant. This is where the expertise of those in the business of debt consolidation comes into play. They know how to communicate with your creditors to negotiate the lowest monthly payments and can help arrange a new loan so that you will not only be saving money but also decreasing the size of your debt. Be careful of services that ask you to pay a fee for them to help you get out of debt. There are many agencies that are available that offer free debt consolidation help to guide you through the process moving from living with debt to living a productive life without debt.