http://www.debtreliefadvice.com/credit-card-debt/consolidate-credit-card-debt/ Consolidate credit card debt to save time and money. Learn about a couple of ways to consolidate credit card debt here. en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT Weblog Editor 2.0 When it comes to consolidating credit card debt, there's more than one way to skin a horse. Methods to End the Madness... ...the madness that is your credit card debt, that is. If your credit isn't damaged, you can try to consolidate credit card debt on your own by transferring your balances to a card with a 0% introductory rate and a low rate after that. Ideally, you would pay the balance off during the introductory period. Otherwise, you have to pay the low rate after the introductory period. Some people continue to transfer their balances to 0% cards when the introductory period ends, but you have to be careful when doing this because some credit card companies are now charging balance transfer fees. Then you have to decide if paying the balance transfer fees in exchange for getting your credit card debts paid off during the introductory period is worth it or not. If you think you can get your balance paid off during the introductory period anyway, then paying the balance transfer fee probably isn't worth it. For some people, this is not a viable way to consolidate credit card debt. Either they are overextended or their credit isn't good enough to be approved for such a deal. If you're at the point where you're putting off one bill to pay another, or if you're wondering how on earth you're going to make ends meet each month, you should probably look into a professional credit card debt consolidation program. Through this method, you hire a debt management company to consolidate credit card debt on your behalf. In the process, they get your interest rates dropped and sometimes even get past fees removed. Then they consolidate all the new, lower balances and make one monthly payment to the debt consolidation company instead of making several payments to your creditors. Because of all the reductions, you actually make progress towards credit card debt elimination--so much so that you can completely eliminate credit card debt in five years! Not only that, but your debt management company will make your monthly payment an amount that's actually realistic and affordable for you. Also, when you consolidate credit card debt through a professional company, if your creditors are hounding you they will be required to stop. And if your credit is suffering, your debt management company can often convince your creditors to "re-age" your accounts, meaning after a few on-time payments, they will report your account as current rather than past due, which will vastly improve your credit rating. If you want to consolidate credit card debt, keep all these things in mind. Sat, 26 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EDT