Debt consolidation is frequently becoming a very familiar term used in these consumer frenzy-spending times when everything that is available to purchase is often presented with the availability of a hire purchase agreement.

While the goods that we want are made more easily available for us to purchase this way, we should also be aware of the financial situation that this can place us in if taken to an extreme degree.

When deciding to purchase an item with the assistance of a loan or hire purchase agreement, it would be most prudent to spend some time first going through your existing finances and outgoings and see exactly what situation this new purchase will place you in.

Compare the APR(Annual Percentage Rate) offered by the shop or store with other available forms of credit such as credit cards or bank loans etc. Many credit cards now a days offer very competitive rates for new purchases, even some can be found that offer a 0% rate of interest which on an expensive purchase can make a substantial saving and in turn reduce the monthly amounts repayable.

However, if you find that unfortunately you are in a situation where you are having problems repaying your monthly loan repayments or overall outgoings it is of the utmost importance that you take immediate steps to correct this situation.

Take time to sit down and write a list of all your outgoing monthly payments and prioritise these with the most urgent cases at the top of the list. Also if possible try to pay off excessively high percentage rated loans first before the lesser percentage rated loans.

If you are unable to pay the agreed amounts to the loan or credit companies contact them and explain your situation and try to come to some agreement about paying a lesser amount each month, you will find that many companies will try to accommodate your request if at all possible.

If after taking these initial steps you find you are still unable to meet your outgoing commitments it may be worth looking into the possibility of consolidating your loans and debts. Basically consolidating your debts means merely finding a credit or loan provider who is willing to loan you an amount, which is sufficient enough to pay off all your present loans and debts and just make one monthly payment over an agreed period of time. This period of time to pay your new consolidated loan can be arranged in order for you to get an overall less expensive monthly outgoing amount.