 TITLE: How to Get a Debt Consolidation Loan with Bad Credit? CONTENT: What Are the Benefits of a Debt Consolidation Loan?\n---------------------------------------------------\nOne of the main advantages of a debt consolidation loan is eliminating the task of paying multiple lenders each month. When you consolidate all your existing debt into one new loan, you only have to make payments to your new lender. Making only one payment is not only easier, but it can save you from dealing with late and missed payments—which can occur when juggling multiple different payments each month.\nPayment history is the most important factor in calculating your credit score—accounting for 35% of your FICO® Score—and it is important to avoid paying any loan payments past their due date. Late payments can easily occur when someone has multiple loan payments each month and is not using auto pay. Another advantage of a debt consolidation loan is lowering the amount of interest you're paying on your outstanding debt. People typically use debt consolidation loans to pay off their high-interest debt—like credit card debt, which can have interest rates that range from 18-25%. In most cases, a debt consolidation loan will have a much lower interest rate depending on your creditworthiness, saving you money on interest over the life of your loan.\nImagine you had $5,000 worth of credit card debt with an APR of about 25%. Over 36 months, the monthly payment on the debt would be approximately $240 and you would pay a total of $2,500 in total interest. If you were to consolidate this debt into a new loan with an average APR of 17% over 36 months, the total amount you pay toward interest would drop to around $1,700 and your monthly payment would come down to $200. In this scenario, the lower the APR on your new loan, the less you will pay toward interest over time. END