Juggling multiple credit card payments every month is stressful. You can set up auto-pay or set calendar reminders, but there’s still a chance you’ll miss a payment or not pay enough to cover the minimum due. Plus, multiple payments make the budgeting process more complex. Consolidating your credit card debt so you have just one payment a month to cover it can make your life much easier by saving you time, money, and stress. Let’s look at the ways you can consolidate your credit card debt.

Debt Consolidation Loan

Available from most banks, credit unions and many online lenders, a debt consolidation loan is designed to allow consumers to pay off high-interest credit card debt and other debts. If approved for the loan, you receive the funds, then pay the outstanding balances on all your open credit card accounts. With those payments out of the way, you now pay one fixed loan payment each month until the debt consolidation loan is paid off.

As with all personal loans, your credit report and score will determine whether you’re approved for the loan and the interest rate. To receive maximum money-saving benefits from a debt consolidation loan, you’ll want the interest rate to be lower than the average interest rate of the credit cards you’re paying off.

Additionally, your credit score will benefit if you keep the paid-in-full accounts open and maintain your $0 balances. To help ensure the creditors don’t close the accounts for inactivity, make small purchases every six months or so and pay them off right away.

Credit Card Balance Transfer

Consolidating your debt with a credit card balance transfer works similarly to doing so with a debt consolidation loan. But rather than receiving funds outright to pay off your debts, you transfer the debts from multiple credit cards to a new credit card.

Ideally, the card will have a lower interest rate than the average rate of your current accounts and a high enough credit limit so that you don’t max out the card with the transfer. If you can qualify for a card with a 0% introductory interest rate, you’ll be able to pay off your debt more quickly, because more of your monthly payment will apply toward the principal. In most cases, the introductory rate will last a maximum of 18 months, so you’ll want to pay off as much as you can during that time.

Once you pay off the accounts, the same rules apply. Keep the cards open to maximize your available credit and improve your credit utilization ratio. But don’t use the cards to charge anything you won’t be able to pay off right away.

Debt Management Plan

Offered by nonprofit credit counseling agencies, such as Take Charge America, a debt management plan is another means of consolidating and paying off credit card debt. It’s different from a consolidation loan or balance transfer in several ways.

First, you’ll complete a credit counseling session to determine if a debt management plan is the right solution for you. If it is and you decide to participate in the plan, the credit counseling agency will consolidate all your credit card debt and contact your creditors to arrange more favorable repayment terms, including lower interest rates. You make one payment a month to the credit counseling agency, and they, in turn, pay your creditors. Because more of the payment goes toward the principal each month, you’ll see your balances begin to shrink quickly.

Unlike a consolidation loan or balance transfer, the credit card accounts enrolled in the plan are closed. And we strongly recommend not taking on any new debt while on the plan. Once the debt management plan is complete, you can begin to carefully apply for and use new credit when necessary.

Your Choices and Goals

No matter which method of debt consolidation you choose, remember the goal is to get out of debt and stay out of debt. Sustained behavioral changes, such as planning and sticking to a budget, saving up money to pay for large purchases and focusing on needs rather than wants, will help you reach your financial goals.