While there are various vehicles of debt consolidation —
credit cards,
unsecured personal loans, home equity
lines of
credit — all you really need to know
about the effects of consolidation on
credit utilization, which comprises almost 30 percent of your score, is that revolving accounts (cards and some home equity
lines) are included in these calculations while installment accounts (loans), for the most part, are not.
Most debts that people stress
about are
unsecured —
credit cards,
lines of
credit, bank overdraft, payday loans, even income taxes.