It is very easy to get lured into taking out new credit cards, store cards, credit agreements etc. and before you know it you have a number of small debts which add up to quite a sum. Often you take them out with the best intentions - making full repayment each month to avoid interest charges.

But it's not always easy to keep up the good work and you slip into making minimum repayments and the debts and monthly interest start to add up. The problem with this type of credit is that it usually attracts the highest interest rates, meaning that charges can quickly escalate.

If you have a number of small, high interest rate debts you could consider an unsecured debt consolidation loan. This is likely to be at a much lower interest rate and, if you take it out over a few years (say 5 or more) the monthly repayment should be much lower than servicing your existing debt.

Make sure you cancel and cut up all of your non-essential cards once they have been paid off to avoid future temptation. You could take a little extra cash with your consolidation loan which you can spend as you please.

For people with bigger debt problems there are other options which may be more appropriate such as an IVA or debt management. Our dedicated debt website, IVA Debt Problem, can help you with free debt advice and guide you down the right path.