consolidation?

[hoodie]

Oh boy, am I ever in debt.

To make a long story short, I got an educational loan and moved (needing furniture, etc.) at around the same time and now find myself in a lot of debt. I understand the previous thread about credit card debt says to take care of it slowly, a little at a time. But in the spring, my loan payments will kick in too. I'm wondering if I should consolidate my debt, or if this is just a scam arrangement.

Has anyone here done debt consolidation? How does it work? Would it work for someone in my situation? Help!!

[workaholic?]

i have my federal student loans consolidated but that's all. my debt was pretty huge when i got out of college last year, and all i started doing was paying off the smallest accounts with the highest interest first. little by little i paid off all my credit cards ($7,000), all of my financed furniture ($6,500), and one of my private student loans ($3,300). as a result, my credit score has gone up over 100 points.

[hoodie]

So I only have one loan and one credit card. But the idea of paying both those huge debts off (combined to about 12 grand), I am freaking out. Would it make sense to consolidate or no? I have no idea how it works.

[Kitty]

I'm looking into it as well...

[workaholic?]

personally...i would not consolidate only two accounts. the only real reason to consolidate is if someone can give you a much lower interest rate than both of your accounts currently have. otherwise...if the interest rate offered for a consolidation loan is between that of your education loan and your credit card, you're kind of getting screwed on the education loan even though you might be saving a little on your credit card...so in the long run, you've done nothing.

[workaholic?]

also...i don't mean to be nosy, but after bills and food and all, how much are you able to save every month?

[mishl982]

I only had one type of student loan and I was able to consolidate that. I probably pay $50 less a month than if I didn't consolidate and in the same amount of time (10 years I think). I consolidated through American Education Services.

[wordsmith]

I never consolidated my educational loan, it's still with the federal gov't. I looked into it, it wasn't worth it, because though there were some offers of lower interest, the payment was too big for my budget.