Consolidating Credit Card Debt: 4 Options for Getting Out of Debt

Have you thought about consolidating your credit card debt? If those high interest rates on cards are killing you, this may be an option. When you consolidate credit card debt, you get one lower payment per month.nnThere are four easy ways to go about consolidating credit card debt.nn1. Get a home equity loan. A home equity loan is a second, third, or even fourth against the value of your home. You pay off all of your credit cards and secondary debt and make one payment to the lender. There are a number of advantages to a home equity loan when consolidating credit card debt. For one thing, home equity loans have the lowest interest rate you can find. Another reason is that if you have equity in your home, they are fairly easy to get. But, be forewarned that if you can´t pay the debt in full each month, you could risk placing your entire home in danger of foreclosure.nn2. Get a personal, or signature loan. A debt consolidation loan is frequently available from your bank or from a lender affiliated with debt consolidation quotes that you can get for free. Again, you will pay off all of your high interest smaller loans and make one payment to the lender. While the debt consolidation loan will have a lower interest rate than your high interest credit cards, it will not be as low as a home equity loan. This is caused for having no assets backing up the loan. You can also discharge a personal loan in bankruptcy, something you can’t do with a home equity loan.nn3. Get a credit card with a large balance. If you have several small credit card bills, you can sometimes get one low interest credit card and transfer all of the other balances to it. Be sure that you get rid of all of the small cards or you may be tempted to use them and then have twice as much debt. If you have a decent credit report, you may be able to get a credit card with a large credit limit. But, make sure that the new card has a lower interest rate than all of the small cards because that is the whole point of consolidating credit card debt.nn4. If you can´t consolidate credit card debt by working with lenders or credit card companies directly, go to a debt consolidation firm. These firms work with the credit card companies themselves. Frequently, they are able to negotiate lower interest rates or even get the principle reduced. Then, instead of paying multiple bills each month, you will make one payment to the debt consolidation company. Keep in mind that there are for profit and not for profit debt consolidation companies. Some of the for profit companies have turned out to be very nasty. So, do your due diligence before signing up.nnWe all have many options for consolidating credit card debt. Choose the one that gives you the best combination of lowest payments per month and lowest overall interest payments over the life of the loan.