You don't want to think about debt consolidation. Sometimes debt can catch up with you before you even realize it has been chasing you for a long time. Most people do not intentionally dig themselves into a debt pit. But sometimes the financial obligations can be overwhelming to the point where you need to look at the best options to get back on track.

In fact, the majority of consumers in the US who find themselves with more debt obligations every month than they have income have found themselves in that position due to no real fault of their own, at least not directly. Most people find themselves in this very undesirable place due to circumstances outside of their direct control, such as a divorce, a job layoff, very high medical bills, and similar things that they have little to no control over.

But the reality of it is that sometimes you have no choice and need to keep yourself afloat financially. Typically, this period of hardship is hopefully a temporary one, where you just need to be able to weather this temporary setback until you can get back on your financial feet.

Seriously consider a good debt consolidation program. This is also applicable to new college grads that have a ton of student debt, where the same company can usually provide a student bill consolidation to accomplish the same purpose. A debt consolidation program is much better than taking out a personal loan, because with a personal loan you are simply digging your hole deeper, which is not the direction you want to go. Bankruptcy is probably not your best option either, since the long term negative effects of bankruptcy will haunt you for the next 7 to 10 years via a huge blemish on your credit report.

But be aware of what a debt consolidation company does and what they don't do. They do not pay off your debt all at once. You turn your bills over to them and then you make payments to them every month. They work with your creditors to lower each of your payments and reduce your interest. So if you had say $3000 a month going out before to satisfy your monthly bills, the bill consolidation company might be able to reduce that to perhaps under $2000 a month, giving you the financial breathing room you need right now.