Low interest rates these days are lower than they have been in a long time, tempting those trying to remedy debt problems. The goal is to multiple higher interest rate loans into one easy to manage, less costly loan.

Be careful, ease and convenience doesn’t always translate to savings.

Make sure you know all the costs of the new bundled loan before signing on the dotted line. You want to determine if the cost of the new loan will really be less than what you are already paying. Chances are you won’t get the lowest interest rate if you already deep in debt with damaged credit. If you have no collateral, i.e. nothing to secure the loan (such as your home) the lender will charge a higher than advertised rate.

To find out if debt consolidation will save money you should:

a) Calculate interest and fees on all existing accounts to determine the total amount of your current payments. Use an online payoff calculator to calculate the total cost over the life of the loans

b) Compare those amounts with the consolidation loan numbers to see if it really is a better choice

Shop around for the best deal. Check with your bank, the bank down the street, or better yet, a local credit union. Credit unions are usually more lenient than banks.

You can consolidate debts yourself or find a reputable company to help. A reputable debt consolidation company can lower your outstanding debt by eliminating accrued interest and finance charges. They charge fees for the service but if they reduce your total outstanding debt then you can still save money in the long run. The disadvantage of doing it yourself is that it could cost you more money in the long run due to extending the length of the loan and not getting the accrued interest and finance charges eliminated.

Finding the right company will take some research but there are many online resources that can help you.

Debt consolidation can be a legitimate debt solution. Just be prepared.

More on debt consolidation how to at http://www.debtsolution-strategies.com/debtconsolidation.htm