It may surprise you to learn that there are actually various different levels of debt consolidation that you can undertake. How good your credit is will impact the choices that you have and the avenue that you actually pursue. Some consolidating debt can actually help your credit score out right away. With other types, you may not see the promised benefits for many months or even years. Debt specialists will be the first to tell you that either form of debt consolidating will be better for your credit score than debt settlement or bankruptcy options.The best form of combining your debts together will be in getting a special loan that allows you to pay off all of your bills and roll them into one payment. These types of consolidating loans are available from various banks or finance companies. You will have to possess good credit and no defaults to be able to take advantage of them. If you have a high level of debt on several different accounts, then this will certainly help your credit score almost right away. This is because by eliminating the balances on all of your other cards, you will show all paid status accounts. The penalty that you are assessed for having one large bill is far lower than that of having many bills spread around on all of your accounts.Other people will not have the ability to obtain this kind of bills consolidating loan. If you are in this category, there is no need to despair. Other forms of debt consolidation are still available to you. There are various not for profit companies, as well as law firms, in the market that specialize in this type of program. With this form of debt consolidation, you will be looking to have the company negotiate with your creditors on your behalf. They will certainly be capable of lowering your interest rates. Lower rates of interest will translate to both lower payments and faster pay down times on your bills.Some consolidating companies may offer you the choice of trying to negotiate down the amount of balance that you have to pay back along with the interest rate. Others may seek to get your creditors to accept zero interest on the balances. The success of these efforts will depend on the state in which you live, how far behind on your payments you are, and what your financial capabilities of repaying your bills actually prove to be.