Is debt consolidation a reasonable solution?

Run, and run away fast from these companies.
They will charge you thousands for stuff you can easily do yourself.

You can also call your credit card companies and change the closing date on your account so they don’t fall on the same day.
I change my closing date on my all my credit cards so they fall on the same day!
That way I know when I’m getting a bill in the mail.

Please do not do any business with debt negotiation, or settlement companies.
They will rob you blind.
If you are in serious trouble you can contact
NFCC.org
It’s a non-profit government agency that will help you at no cost to you.
But you have to be in financial hardship.

I would like to suggest a book on credit / debt repair from the library or bookstore.
They will teach you step by step how to take care of your finances.
Suze Ormond has a great one – so does Dave Ramsey.
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“Debt consolidation” can refer to two completely different things: The first is getting a loan to pay off all debts to consolidate your bills into one lower payment. If you do this, go through a local bank that you know and trust. Stay away from online firms. You need to have good credit to get this type of loan. Many people who get debt consolidation loans quickly find themselves in twice as much debt as when they started….because it’s simply too tempting to start using all that newly available credit that was paid by the consolidation loan. If you get this type of loan, contact your credit card companies after the debt has been paid off by the loan and request voluntary credit limit reductions to under $ 500 to avoid the temptation of using all that newly available credit again.

Debt consolidation also refers to a risky practice of debt settlement: deliberately defaulting on your credit cards to try to force your creditors to settle for less.

When you sign up with a debt consolidation firm, the program involves deliberately ceasing payments to all your creditors to force your accounts into default to attempt settlements for less. You pay a monthly fee to a debt consolidator….this entire fee goes towards building a settlement account and to the consolidator’s fees to “settle” your accounts in the future. Your credit card companies will deliberately not be paid so that all the accounts will default/charge-off so that they can attempt settlements at around 50%. If you are current on your accounts, this process will ruin your credit rating. You can never predict how your creditors will respond to the deliberate defaulting of your accounts…they might settle at 50%…or they might serve you a summons, take you to court…and if they win, you could be looking at wage garnishment.

check the below link. it may help you.
http://interestingarticles4all.blogspot.com/2010/01/small-business-debt-consolidation.html