Consolidate Credit Card Debt to Gain Financial Control

One of the first symptoms that you are losing control of your finances is if you regularly carry credit card balances over from month to month. Therefore, the place to start to gain control of your finances is to consolidate credit card debt, with an eye toward reducing it.

Credit cards are an excellent tool for short-term convenience, but they are not good sources of long-term borrowing. If you do not pay off your credit cards regularly -- and this means paying them off in full, not just making the minimum monthly payment -- then those cards are working against you rather than for you.

Why Credit Card Debt Is a Three-Headed Monster
Why is it so important to consolidate credit card debt? Because credit card debt is a three-headed monster:
" Interest rates on credit cards are often relatively high, making this an expensive way to borrow money
" Interest rates on credit card debt are variable, so credit card debt is an unpredictable financial liability
" Multiple credit cards not only multiply your potential for debt, but they multiply confusion

Taming the Monster Through Debt Consolidation
One way to tame this monster is to consolidate credit card debt into a single loan. This can reduce the interest rate you pay on debt, stabilize that interest rate into a fixed rate loan, and simplify your debt liabilities for easier management.
 
Once you consolidate credit card debt, staying in control means using those cards only for convenience in the future. Once you find yourself running up debt you can't pay off every month, start leaving the credit cards at home.