If you’re struggling with multiple debt accounts at the same time, figuring out a way to combine your payments into one can be a lifesaver. You could find yourself saving money on interest and putting more money towards paying down the debt. Both debt consolidation and credit counseling offer similar services that could help you in this regard.

Credit Counseling

Credit counseling is a service that makes it possible to simplify your financial life. Credit counseling services typically promote debt management plans as a tool to get out of debt. With a debt management plan, the credit counseling service negotiate lower interest rates for you on your debt accounts. Then they set up and run a centralized payment plan for you. You make a single payment to the credit counseling service each month and out of that money, your accounts are paid.

The advantage of credit counseling is that it is simple to set up and you do not have to have good credit in order to borrow any more money. Another advantage is that it does not negatively affect your credit score while you are in the program. Once you complete the program, your credit score should not be any lower.

The drawback of using this option is that you cannot accumulate any more debt while you are in the program. If you apply for a credit card or another type of credit account, you will be denied.

Debt Consolidation

Debt consolidation is another option that you may want to pursue. With debt consolidation, you take out a loan and use the money that you borrow to pay off debt. This creates a new, larger account that you begin paying off. One of the advantages of using this strategy is that it can get you lower interest rates to work with.

The drawback of this strategy is that it is not available for everyone. If you don’t have great credit, you may not be able to borrow enough money to pay off all of your other debts at once.

Considerations

Both of these options can help simplify your life by giving you a single payment every month. If one of these options will not work for you, you may want to consider an alternative such as debt settlement or bankruptcy. Both debt settlement and bankruptcy could help you eliminate your debt quickly and easily.

Author Bio:
Elizabeth R — is a financial writer from Chicago Illinois and represents Franklin Debt Relief as her company. She has a bachelor’s degree in Multimedia Arts from Informatics International College.