OK listen up folks, do you have a mountain of debt on your credit cards that would probably put a third world developing nation to shame? Suddenly does it seem to you and you alone that there is nothing in the classifieds but advertisements from Companies all promising competitive rates on Credit Debt Consolidation? Are becoming obsessed with hiding the credit card statements before your wife gets to the post in the morning? You do? Well do not be too despondent because it would appear that you are not alone in all of this. Does this not make you feel better? You feel like going out and treating yourself to something new right away! See, that is the problem. It appears that the average person in the US is about $8,000 to $10,000 in unsecured debt at any one time. Now for a certain part of the population that may or may not be a problem but for the average household it is and the knock on effects of this could be devastating on the economy. One of the reasons for this mountain of debt, it is argued is the difference between the average wage and the average cost of living, Basic balance of payments issue in Macro economic terms and the gap between monthly income and monthly expenditure in micro economic terms. In summary, living la dolce vita! Sound familiar? Yes full marks to the guys at the back, we are living beyond our means and sooner or later it is going to catch up with us all big time! If we take a look at the basic issue at stake here we have a mountain of debt that the average person only services the bare minimum of. So let us look at the basic mathematics. Person A has an income of $40,000 per annum and credit card debt of $10,000 that they clear at the rate of the bare minimum (usually 5% per month) so this roughly equates to $500 per month out of a disposable income of roughly $2,500 per month. This means that twenty percent of their income goes straight out of the door to service existing debt before they have had a chance to cover the ongoing expenses for the month. Throw into the mix the unexpected hospital visit, pet care expenditure or domestic crisis or automobile problem and before you know it the problems merely increase You do not have to be a fiduciary genius to spot the potential flaw in this whole exercise. As a major national charity for the Homeless once said we are all a mere 3 missed pay checks from being without a roof over our heads. OK this may be slightly on the over dramatic side but by studying the information above it is quite easy to see how very easily this could happen. Financial habits like these are all well and good in days of low interest rate but when the economy starts to cool and the markets react badly then we have to change our ways or go under. If you are going to do something positive about this then make sure that whatever decision you reach, whatever route you plan to take is the right one for you and one that you see yourself accomplishing in its entirety. Do not let this force you into some rash and foolish credit debt consolidation exercise that might cost you more in the long term.