Finance Roll

College students often find themselves paying only the monthly minimum payment on each of their credit cards due to limited funds. It is not uncommon however, paying only the minimum payment can lead to outrageous interest accumulation which can cause you to owe much more than you originally charged. Of course, this is what many credit card companies want. It is how they make their billions. Since you are a college student and you are about to enter the real world, you can be smart right now and think about using credit card consolidation to pay down those large balances.

How Does Credit Card Consolidation Benefit You?

The main benefit to credit card consolidation is lowering your monthly payment. All of your credit card debt is rolled up into one payment, which is most often lower than what you had been responsible for paying before with all of your payments combined. Credit card consolidation helps you to lower your amount of debt faster and can also save you money over time. And with your monthly payment lowered, you have more spending money throughout the month to use towards other college related expenses such as rent, books, or even a new computer to use for school assignments. Credit card consolidation is a wise choice for college students who want to enter the real world debt free.

How to Choose A Credit Card Consolidation Lender

There are several choices in lenders when it comes to credit card consolidation. A quick online search reveals about 814,000 results when you search for 'credit card consolidation lenders'. Your first choice should be to speak to your personal bank. If you have good credit and a bank account, you might be able to obtain a personal loan to use to consolidate your credit cards. This option allows you to keep your credit accounts open, which is the best choice. Closing your credit card accounts does not look good on your credit report. The longer you have kept a credit card account open and in good standing, the better your overall credit score will be. If you choose to use a personal loan to pay off your credit cards, be sure to watch out for high interest rates on the loan which could defeat the purpose of credit card consolidation. You can choose to use a debt consolidation company to help you with your credit card consolidation, but you will likely be asked to close your credit accounts. If you have a tremendous amount of credit card debt that you can't possibly pay off without help however, a debt consolidation company may be the best choice for you.

Be Smart About Consolidating Your Credit

If you are going to take the initiative to consolidate your credit cards, be sure to stick to your plan. That means you cannot rack up your credit card bills again just because you have zero balances. Additionally, you must be sure to make your monthly payments on time to keep your credit in good standing. As a college student, credit card consolidation can be a wise choice if you do it the right way and for the right reasons.