Is debt consolidation a good idea?

Claire, There's a good article at eHow on steps to take to begin tackling your debt. Take a look at it: http://www.ehow.com/how_2326032_avoid-escalating-debt.html How to Stop Escalating Debt It includes information on companies (both non-profit and for-profit) that can help you with debt consolidation and reduction. You can also look here for tips on earning some extra cash online: http://www.ehow.com/how_2254361_money-internet.html How to make money on the internet, scam-free Lastly, here's an interesting alternative to conventional lending...getting a "social networking" loan from Virgin Money (from the same folks who run Virgin Airlines): http://www.ehow.com/how_2310995_student-loan-through-virgin-money.html Social Loans from Virgin Money Hope these help.

The citizens advice should be able to help. I don't understand why you say they are rubbish. Any debt consolidation will cost you more in the long run. You need independent debt advice. Not fee paying advice! The way the citizens advice should do it, is to sit down with you and work out how much you need to get buy on. Then whats left over is split equally between the people you owe money to. Then they write on your behalf making an offer of a regular payment.

Generally it is better to negotiate with each creditor one by one. I would start with the mortgage to protect my home. You want to negotiate away the late fees and any extra interest charges. This is especially true on the credit cards. Any agreement that you reach on the phone should be confirmed in writing by the creditor. Once you have gotten an agreement with each creditor then you will want to pay off the smallest debt first while paying a minimum on the others or more if possible. Once the smallest debt is paid off then take whatever you were paying on that and apply it to the next smallest and so on until you are left only with the mortgage. Very important! Do not take on additional debt! Cut up your credit cards or freeze them in a block of water or whatever you need to do to control your spending. Work out a budget. There is a site http://crownfinancial.org -- I think that's correct and look for their money map. They also have a number of aids to helping people get out of debt.