As your debt piles up, you may be overwhelmed with stress. When people are having financial troubles, they take actions they normally wouldn’t. Instead of falling into any traps, use debt consolidation to help you.

Before considering debt consolidation, review your credit report. You must first identify the causes of your current debt problems. That ensures you won’t get into debt again.

Make sure a prospective counseling firm has qualified employees. Do the counselor have any certification? Is the company legitimate with the backing of well-known and highly reputable institutions? This can help make your decision easier.

View your credit report prior to consolidating debts. The first step in debt elimination is understanding its origins. Make a list of all your creditors and find out how much you still owe them. You can only fix your problem if you know these things.

Don’t borrow from pros that you don’t know anything about. There are many different types of unscrupulous loan providers. If you choose to consolidate debt by borrowing money, be sure you get a lender who has a good rep and be sure the interest rates go well with the creditors’ charges.

You may be able to pay off your high interest credit cards by drawing some money from your 401K or retirement fund. This should only be done as an absolute last resort since there are significant ramifications if the money is not paid back quickly. If not, you will owe taxes and penalties on the account.

If you are in a bind and quickly need to pay down your debt, look at your 401k plan to help with debt consolidation. In essence, you’re borrowing from yourself. Be sure to pay it back within five years or you will face stiff financial penalties.

Are you on life insurance? Consider cashing it in to pay your debts. Find out just how much money you will be able to receive against your policy. You should be able to borrow a portion of that value of your life insurance policy.

Consider getting a loan from a friend or family member to help you get out of debt. This is not a good idea if you can’t pay them back. This is the final stop on the way to repairing your credit situation, but make sure that you are fully committed to do so.

If the plan is to go with a debt consolidation service, do research first. They should design a consolidation and debt reduction program geared towards your individual needs. Your debt counselor needs to be able to make a solution for you that’s personalized.

When in debt, you can make bad choices. Now you know what to do to stay positive and make better decisions. You now know what debt consolidation can do for you; put this advice to good use.

Inform creditors that you’re working with a consolidation service. There might be a compromise that they are willing to work out with you. This is something you need to do because they might not know you’re trying to take care of your bills. By telling them this, they will see that you’re trying to get your financial debts under control.