Credit card debt consolidation

By: CCN.com 

Some people carry debt on their credit cards due to inability to
make payment owing to some emergency expenditure, others carry
debt due to excessive or irresponsible expenditure on their
credit cards (forgetting that they need to pay it back too).
Today, a lot of people carry multiple credit cards and carry
debt on each of the cards. Whatever be the reason, everyone
wants to get out of this debt. Debt consolidation is probably
the first and the best step in this direction.

Credit card debt consolidation is a pretty popular concept now.
Put simply, debt consolidation is the process of transferring
your debt from multiple credit cards to one credit card. It is
also called transferring balance from multiple credit card
accounts into a single account. 

Why would one go for debt consolidation? Well, there can be
multiple reasons. You could decide to go for it just to prevent
confusion in dealing with multiple credit card accounts.
However, the primary reason is lower APR on the credit account
you are shifting your debt to. The APRs on different credit
cards can be different. A lot of companies even try to lure new
customers by offering a lower APR than their current credit
companies when they transfer balance from their current card to
the new card. 

However, this is easier said than done. You need to read the
fine print on such balance transfer offers, understand them
completely and judge whether they would actually be beneficial
to you. Among others, the following 2 set of questions are most
important and need to be examined carefully before zeroing-in on
a balance transfer offer:

Is there a fee associated with the balance transfer? If yes,
then does it offset the benefit obtained in terms of reduced
APR? Is the lower APR applicable only for a limited initial
period? If yes, then how long is this period? What is the long
term APR and is it less than the current APR on your credit
card? Will you be able to pay all your debt during this reduced
APR period? Is the card going to be beneficial to you in the
long term? You might also want to explore other avenues of debt
reduction before actually going for debt consolidation.
Contacting a good debt assistance company might be easier and
better for you since these companies generally have all the
information about balance transfer offers and other debt
reduction/elimination methods. However, do not use services of
such a company unless you are absolutely sure about the quality
of their services. Declaring bankruptcy or a monthly-installment
based personal loan are other possible means of eliminating
debt. If you are not entirely sure about the best method, do not
hesitate to take professional advice even if costs to a small
fee. This fee might actually turn out less expensive in the long
term as compared to the wrong option chosen by you all by
yourself.