A second aspect needs to address whether you will make regular set payments or if you're just planning to put in lumps of cash whenever you can afford it. It's usually a better idea to start by saving regular monthly amounts as it gets you into the rhythm of saving and pretty soon you will find that you don't really notice the amounts going out each month. While it's not the buyers market it was there is still some competition out there and you need to exploit it to your advantage. After all, over a few years all those dollars soon mount up in your favour. If you're a home owner you will find that you can often get a much more favourable rate if you take a loan which is secured on your property. More and more people are moving over from the high street banks to the online banks and applying the savings and checking accounts on them for the myriad conveniences that they can get out of them. But at the same time, you have to realize that there might be disadvantages of these online accounts too. Just one small monthly repayment covers all your outstanding debts. Well in some cases that is very true but every case is different and you have to do you own checking to make sure you will be better off. It is important to remember that you are taking the existing balances of your bills and spreading them over the term of the new loan. This should be one of the primary points that you should be looking at, but certainly it should not be the only point. (ii) The second thing you need to check is the amount that the bank needs you to deposit so that you can open the account. Different financial institutions have different limits here and hence you need to ask them personally or check their written brochures. And don't forget to try and haggle down the rate you are offered. Tell them you have a better deal on the table across the street. You'll be surprised just how much things can change with a little bit of competition. Of course if you've got poor credit things might not be quite so simple. And if that is the case maybe the best thing would be you for you to talk to a licensed debt counsellor or visit a bill consolidation service to get some idea of how you can reduce your monthly commitments.