If you really believe that a personal loan to consolidate debt will pave the way to wealth, you are probably going to be vulnerable to every huckster out there who wants to sell you something.

You cannot get wealthy by going into debt, and a consolidation loan is debt.

Debt consolidation companies will try to convince you that you're paying off your debt, but you're not. You are just rolling it into one big, usually very expensive, lump sum.

A personal loan to consolidate can, however, work in your favor IF you have the right goals and IF it's part of a comprehensive plan to achieve those those goals.

The Right Goals When you get into financial trouble, most people just want out. If they apply for a personal loan to consolidate debt, and the lender asks what their financial goals are, they may say they just want to be able to pay all their bills each month.

That sounds like a good thing, but is that really all you want? Don't you want more than that? You need to do some quality soul-searching and decide what your personal financial goals are, and this article will suggest two important goals that will lead you to financial freedom:

1. Living debt free. Living debt free is a lifestyle of living within your means and not spending more than you have.
2. Changing your heritage. We learn how to deal with financial issues from our parents and close family members. By changing the way you handle money, you change your financial heritage forever. Your children will learn healthier financial habits than you did, and pass those skills on to their children.

Now those are goals worth reaching for, and worth developing the right plan for.

The Right Plan The right plan is a commitment to eliminating debt and not adding to it. There may be several parts to that plan:

• A budget. If you want to achieve your goals you'll need to develop a budget that will get you out of debt as quickly as possible.
• A spending plan. You're going to cut spending to the bone; debt repayment is the #1 priority in your life until you are debt free.
• A sale. Sell everything you can to raise money to pay off debt.
• Generating income. Deliver newspapers, baby-sit, work overtime, take a second job, create a home business - do whatever it takes to pay off your debt as quickly as possible.
• A personal loan to consolidate debt. This is not going to decrease your total indebtedness, but it may make it easier for you to pay that debt off.

If a personal loan to consolidate debt is accompanied by an all-out blitz to get rid of your debt and a change in the way you manage money, it can, indeed, start you on the path to wealth.

If you do end up taking out a personal loan to consolidate debt, be sure that you are totally committed to stick to your spending and debt reduction plan. Otherwise, you'll just end up accumulating more debt.

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