A debt consolidation loan is used to take all of the separate debt a person may have and combine that debt into one, lower combined payment. A debt consolidation loan will generally be used to reduce debt to a more manageable level. The new payment will be lower than the sum of the previous payments and is also tax deductible where those previous balances may not have been.

For example if a person had three credit cards with balances of $2000 each and monthly payments totaling $200, a car payment with a balance of $18000 and a payment of $450 and a second mortgage with a balance of $32000 and a payment of $550. That person could combine the total debt of $56000 and turn that into a payment of $469 for 20 years at 8%. This would show a monthly savings of $731 on a monthly basis. In addition the interest paid would be tax deductible for even more savings.

Debt consolidation is very popular as people tend to over extend. Last year the average amount of credit card debt held by Americans was over $8000. In addition the interest rate on a debt consolidation loan will usually be much less than that on those debts that are being paid off.

Many different items can be paid off by a debt consolidation loan: Credit cards, auto loans, other mortgage loans, furniture financing, student loan and other personal loans. The list is endless. The beneficial part of the equation is that combined sum of payments will be much more manageable.

A debt consolidation loan also gives a home owner a