What is the best procedure to follow about debt consolidation?
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Start by making a list of monthly expenses - ones that you can't avoid like food and housing (fixed expenses), and also ones that you can control like entertainment and technology purchases (discretionary spending). Take your monthly income and subtract from that your fixed expenses. This is the amount that you have left to save and use for paying off your debts. Put a freeze on most discretionary spending for now. Get an American Express Green card, which you have to pay off monthly, and get rid of the old credit cards.
If you own a home, consider refinancing your debt into a new mortgage or home equity loan so that the interest is tax deductible. If you don't own a home, then pay off in either order: Either pay off the highest interest cards first, or pay off the smallest card balance first. The second option can be psychologically rewarding since you can see the progress you are making in completely wiping out each card balance.
It takes discipline, but you can do it!
Pay what you need to on all of them. Choose the one with the highest interest rate and pay it off as fast as you can. Then do the same with the next one and so on. I also suggest that you take the 2 credit cards with the highest interest rate and destroy them. There's no reason for you to have more than 1 credit card. If you have more than 1 just so that you can run up debt -- THAT'S the root of your problem. Destroy them and don't use them anymore.
If you do what you suggest above with consolidating to 1 payment you may get the sense that you're almost out of debt and start running up the cards again.
There are many debt con. business. Check bbb or ask around. You need to find a reliable service. There have been agencies who have taken their clients money and ran.
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