When I was in my early 20s, I was very irresponsible with my credit cards. At first, I promised myself that I would only use them when I ran into a financial emergency, but I soon started charging things like beer, pizza, and other unnecessary items that college students tend to deem important. It didn’t take long before I was thousands of dollars in debt with no way to pay off my bills quickly, and of course the incredibly high interest rates the credit card companies charged made things even worse.
After a few months of making the minimum payment — and getting nowhere — I decided to try consolidating my debts. Some of my friends had utilized loan consolidation to reduce their student loan burdens, so I thought I could benefit in the same way.
Although it certainly wasn’t an overnight solution, debt consolidation did work out for me in the long run. I was able to pay off my credit cards a lot sooner than if I hadn’t consolidated, and I’ve been very careful about my spending habits ever since.
April 20th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
I am thinking about consolidating my debts too. thanks for the info.