But if you take one out what is the total cost of the bill? Consolidations loans are the same as any other loan when it comes to making a decision whether or not they are right for you. It sounds great the way the banks and loan companies promote bill consolidation loans doesn't it? Just one small monthly repayment covers all your outstanding debts. They succeeded in driving the price up to around $54 an ounce before the authorities changed the rules on margin trading. As a result the market crashed spectacularly into freefall. If you had blindly followed them because you didn't know what you were doing but thought it was safe to do so because others were following them you could have finished up bankrupt. If for example you prefer to learn by watching you could invest in DVDs in preference to buying a book. One way which is becoming increasingly popular is to learn by attending seminars. These allow you to raise questions and get them answered by experts. Something that obviously just isn't possible from reading books, watching DVDs or listening to audio CDs. These can be an excellent alternative for anyone who has the confidence to make their own investment decisions. Something which does need considering is the question of charges. This applies whichever type of broker and whatever method is used for that very first investment. Many new investors wrongly assume that all their money will go directly into buying the investment they have chosen and forget that there are different prices for buying and selling stocks. Take your time and speak to licensed debt counsellors from as many places as you can find. While a couple of extra days won't make much difference at this stage they could add months or even years on to the length of your repayment schedule. And the old adage of time is money is very true if that happens. Well the first thing to recognize is that we are all responsible for our own borrowing. That being the case we can start to take steps to reduce the amount of money that we owe and also the amount we have to pay out each month. Think of it this way; Credit cards are not "bad", just like anything else they have plusses and minuses.