Step 1:
Find a reputable company to deal with (see Resources below). There are many companies that can give you a free debt consolidation but they may have hidden costs. You must check any company out to be sure that the debt consolidation is completely free.

Step 2:
Stay away from banks and mortgage brokers who tell you they are giving you a debt consolidation, but are really giving you a second mortgage on your home. The idea of a debt consolidation is not to incur more debt but to get yourself free of debt.

Step 3:
Gather all your credit card bills and any other unsecured debts you have. You will need all the paper work when you talk with a counselor about your free debt consolidation.

Step 4:
Talk to a counselor. He will take you through the steps of debt consolidation. The object is to reduce the amount of monthly payments that you are making. If you currently have monthly payments of $2,000 and you can only afford $1,000, the counselor will work with the credit card companies to get your payments reduced so you can now afford to pay all the bills.

Step 5:
Decide if you want to use the free debt consolidation. There are benefits to using a free debt consolidation plan. They can reduce your payments as much as 50% and get rid of those late fees--you will be making a timely payment each month to the debt consolidation company which will ensure that the payments are made on time--and your credit rating will improve since the delinquent accounts will be eliminated.

Step 6:
Make sure you pay your monthly amount to the debt consolidation company every month on time or there will be consequences. If you find you can't make a payment, inform the company and explain the reason why.