Card Debt Consolidation

Many of us have yet to hear of and learn of the concept and practice of card debt consolidation. I know I hadn’t thought of it on my own and didn’t learn of it until one of my friends and I were discussing money and she expressed an interest in this action called credit card debt consolidation. When I showed surprise and intrigue, she explained that one combines all balances on all credit cards into one credit card company or institution’s plan. This move means many things:

First, card debt consolidation means one can let go of having to “juggle” the bills, or of having to—as my mother would say—rob Peter to pay Paul: instead of having, say, six credit card bills (with six different interest rates, additional fees, etc.), you have one (with one annual fee, one interest rate, and one finance and processing charge).

Next, card debt consolidation means saving time. As with the above scenario, which more of us than not know all too well, the filing and figuring time is drastically reduced. And if one pays online, that time it would take to write checks, hit the mail box, etc. would shrink to a matter of about two minutes.

Next, card debt consolidation typically means a major reduction of interest and other rates in general. I know one person who has credit cards with up to 29% interest charges on each card. I know another person who did the wise card debt consolidation move and now has not only ONE single interest rate to be concerned with but has that rate down to something like 1%!

And finally, the card debt consolidation effort does not mean haggling and hassling and humiliation. Rather, depending on the government and/or financial institution you choose to go with, the application process takes about five minutes (or less, online, but be careful to find a SECURED site and therefore to take a little time researching that the offer is legit in the first place).

So, to cut your payments by 50 or 60 percent; cut your time down to almost nil; and shave years off your stress factor and therefore your aging process…you come out happier, healthier (at least mentally), and better off financially. Now that I think on the offers for doing card debt consolidation that I get in the mail, I realize, too, that one could build up a better line of credit with one financial institution, having all amounts owed on one card, and having, essentially, a higher credit limit overall…higher than one might have on each individual credit card. Not that the goal here is to amass more debt, mind you….