Debt is a serious problem for far too many people. With personal debt spiralling out of control, more and more people are finding themselves in a situation where they are struggling to make end meets. Debt consolidation is one strategy that you may adopt in order to get yourself out of debt and back into the black, permanently.

A debt consolidation loan is a large loan which is used to pay off all of your other debts. Instead of paying hundreds of dollars a month to lots of different companies, you reduce your monthly outgoings and pay one company one amount.

There are many different forms of debt consolidation, ranging from specific loans to re-mortgaging and the right method will vary from person to person. Only you will know which method is right and you are strongly advised to take professional advice if you are in any doubt whatsoever. This article will give you some ideas of the strategies for successfully consolidating your debt.

Firstly, here's one to avoid ... Do not stick your head in the sand and hope your debt problems will all go away. They won't. Simple as that. The more you ignore them and the more you procrastinate about taking action then the worse the problems will get.

I know that's all you may want to do and nasty letters turning up every day demanding money really isn't pleasant, but if you do not take action it will only continue to get worse and worse until everything comes crashing down around your ears.

This can be a real life saver for a lot of people as the reduction in monthly payments can make all the difference between you sinking and swimming. The most important thing to do is to ensure you get enough money to pay off your loans and do not continue to spend and rack up debt. Cut up those credit cards, set yourself a budget and stick to it!

Selling your house is an option if you have somewhere to go or are moving into rented accommodation. It's a last resort really and it is much more preferable to re-mortgage your house. This will reduce the available equity in your house but will get you out of debt, and mortgage rates are usually a lot lower than loan or credit card rates. With a bit of shopping around you can usually find a decent low interest rate.

There really are three options available to you.

1) Arrange a debt consolidation loan
2) Re-mortgage / sell your house
3) Win a lottery

As the third one only happens very rarely, I think we can discount that one straight off.

In some countries there is a fourth option which is called an IVA or Individual Voluntary Agreement in the United Kingdom. It's basically an agreement between you and your creditors to write off a chunk of your debt and pay a manageable amount.

Of course, you can always choose bankruptcy, but that has far reaching consequences and can make life very difficult for you.

Before we discuss the other two, you need to be aware of something. It is all well and good raising money to pay off your debt, but you need to absolutely and totally ensure you do not rack up more debt. It is far too easy to pay off your debt and then get yourself back into exactly the same situation, though with even worse debt than before! Make sure that before you take action to consolidate your debts you commit yourself one hundred percent to being debt free.