If you are in financial trouble then you need to find a reputable debt consolidation counselor to help you get out of debt. It will be a relief to have someone to talk to about the stress you are under and to give you hope that there will be an end to your debts if you take the advice they are giving you. Before you contact one of these counselors make sure you have used up every other option that you are aware of before you seek their help.
A counselor will be able to help you with a plan that will be suited to your needs. This professional knows what options you have and so is there to advise you on the best road for you to take to get rid of the turmoil you find yourself in. He/She can tell you about the advantages and disadvantages of the various debt consolidation options that are there. One of the options you will have is a consolidation loan and these are loans that are devised to pay off all your creditors so that you are left with one monthly payment instead of several. There are some downfalls with this. One of these is that if you have bad credit you can expect a very high interest rate on your new loan.
Another option that may be offered to you is a debt settlement, but this is mostly used for extreme cases. This will allow your creditors to come to terms with your counselor on your debt where they can reduce what you owe significantly. If you go this route you should know that this can be very harmful to your credit and you may still find it hard to pay off. You should only try this option as a last resort to your financial problems.