Some people will tell you that consolidation companies are just sharks waiting to take advantage of your financial situation and charge you to pay off your own debt. While I’m sure some companies are likely out to price gouge their customers, choosing a good consolidation company (or negotiating a debt repay plan on your own) can be a huge boon to your financial life — it helped me pay off $15,000 in student loans and credit card debt within two years. There is one caveat, however; you absolutely must not miss a monthly payment.

I’m not one to toot my own horn, but I will today because, frankly, I deserve it. Today I became a card-carrying member of the Debt-Free club. This beautiful day follows an intense two years of handing over half of my salary towards debt repay, and I am tickled pink to have finally gotten to the point where I don’t have to throw away my paycheck on crap that I purchased eight years ago.

Many people think bill consolidation is synonymous with financial defeat – happening when you aren’t able to pony up the cash for your monthly credit card statement. But the truth is, bill consolidation can be the catalyst that propels you to really tackle that growing pile of debt. Bill consolidation has been a huge boon to my financial wellbeing, and it can do the same for you. Keep on reading for six reasons why debt consolidation can make a huge difference in your finances.

In a new monthly feature we’re going to call “Personal Story”, we’re going to publish our own and reader’s personal finance stories. We’ll focus on how we got into debt, how we’ve worked (or working) our way out of it, and how we keep ourselves on track financially. The hope is that we can all get ideas and encouragement from each other to find ways to live within our means, stick to budgets, and save for a rainy day. It’s hard to stick by these plans by yourself, so we want to try to build a community that encourages these principles. I’m going to kick things off by talking about my own debt story.