The financial crisis that is sweeping not only our country, but the entire world, is causing most people to feel burdened as they continue working but paying out higher costs just to live. If you have an adjustable rate mortgage, chances are you are really struggling to make ends meet and keep your home at the same time. Add on thousands of dollars in student loans that you are paying on, and you are probably feeling like you are at the end of your rope. You can fight the fallout of the financial crisis by consolidating your student loans.

Student loan debt is often upwards of $50,000 by the time a student graduates. Entry-level positions that the graduate takes after they receive their degree often do not pay enough for the student to meet all of their living expenses as well as pay monthly payments to multiple student loan lenders. Falling behind on your student loans, however, can affect not only your credit rating, but can also cause your tax refund to be taken each year and could even result in garnishment of your wages.

Although each state differs in their garnishment laws, most are barbaric to say the least. In the state of Kentucky, for example, a weekly garnishment order allows the garnishee to keep only $154.50 of their weekly income- the rest goes to the creditor who is owed money. No one can live on that amount of money. Also, student loan debt does not qualify for dismissal in bankruptcy proceedings – so this is a debt that will haunt you pay or you become disabled or die.

Consolidate Now – Avoid Potential Negative Consequences

You can avoid all of these instances by consolidating now. A student loan consolidation works much the same as any other consolidation loan. You will take out a new loan that covers all of your pre-existing balances on your student loans and pays them off in full. In turn, you will pay your new lender one payment each month for all of the money they have loaned to you. It is a very simple process, and one that can save you hundreds each month that you can use for other things – like paying your mortgage or buying groceries.

Government Consolidation Can Save You Money

There are various sources for student loan consolidation. An often overlooked source is the United States Department of Education. To qualify for loan consolidation through this government agency, you must have had a federal education loan, such as a Stafford or Perkins loan – which most students do.

Doing your student loan consolidation with the U.S. Department of Education can save you tons of money because the rates they charge are often less than what you will pay with other student loan consolidation services, and there are often friendlier terms offered by the government in the instance that you might go into forbearance on your student loans, or even become disabled.

Government consolidation loans will take into account your current income, size of your family and number of dependents. You can consolidate for up to thirty years, or for as few as twelve. All students looking to consolidate should consider checking with the Department of Education while shopping for their student loan consolidation servicer.

Additional Online Savings

Private lenders also offer consolidation services for student loan borrowers. There are many fine and reputable lenders who will consolidate your student loans with great rates and affordable monthly payment options. A number of these lenders do their business online via the Internet, and are certainly worth looking into.

We live in a credit happy society. Throughout most of our lives we have been brought up to believe that buying something on credit and making monthly payments is a routine and normal way of life. Unfortunately Credit card companies and loan companies have made it easy for us to do this: until now. During recessionary times banks and lenders also have to pull back on their lending just to make sure that they get through these downtimes. Most people end up borrowing so much equity on their homes because they feel like house prices will keep going up forever as was the case in our recent home sector’s prices boom and bust.

Unfortunately they found out the hard way that what comes up really fast often times goes down much harder. Now the situation is that they have borrowed so much on their homes that the value of their mortgage is worth more than the value of their homes. Now its time for them to try to seek out a debt consolidation company that will try to help them consolidate all of their debt into low monthly payments. The one question that remains is how do you find a good company that wont rip you off.

One bit of advice is never take those cold calling companies seriously as they are an endless pit of snackoil and ripoff artists that are looking to separate your money from your pockets. The kind of company you really need to look for is a non-profit debt consolidation company as they are motivated to help you out above taking your money. They are also filled with many veteran debt counselors that have gone through many recession cycles and have lived through every one of them. These are the kind of down to earth folks that can show you many little steps you can take that will end up having a great impact on your ability to eventually pay off your debt and be on your way to financial sanity again. These kinds of companies usually check out great with the better business bureau and aren’t looking to push you into making any bad business decisions. There are some great ones available online which you can check out and verify before making any snap decisions.

Debt consolidation offers relief to those who use it, in the way of offering payment to creditors leaving you with one loan to worry about. When debt consolidation loans and the companies who offered them first came out, they got a lot of negative attention. They were new in the financial world and regulatory commissions didn’t know how to regulate them. Interest rates were high and some debtors found themselves worse off.

But, things have changed immensely in the debt consolidation world. Companies and loans are regulated now and interest rates are low. The credit counselors are highly trained and skilled individuals there to help you get out of financial ruin and into a place of relief and financial security.

The loans are not the entire answer, they are part of a program offering you the financial relief you need while building for your future. Debt consolidation loans do work and when followed up with credit counseling and smart financial practices, can make all the difference to a struggling family just looking for a second chance.

If you are looking toward debt consolidation to find financial relief, take the time to do your homework and learn as much as you can about the debt consolidation companies you are most interested in and the loans and services they offer. Ask for a free consultation to see what they recommend for your situation and trust your instinct. If you don’t feel comfortable in their office, with their staff or about the programs they offer, walk away!

Debt consolidation can be great tool to help struggling individuals and families regain control over their finances. Shop around, understand the loan clearly and work the program and services available to the max to get the most out of your debt consolidation experience.