<prompt> Human: Hey Everyone, Just a generic question. My wife and I have a few credit cards that have some type of balance on them. We only use our AMEX for gastravel but pay it in full every month. For our oddball cards that have a wicked high interest rate should I consolidate all of it just to knock it out quicker and spend less? Any information on decent services if so? Thanks!  <response>: The biggest danger with debt consolidation, is that the vast majority of people do not change their spending habits when they consolidate. Instead, they breathe an internal sigh of relief when their payments go down, and go right back to their normal spending. A few years later, they now find themselves in the situation of having the consolidation payments and a lot of new credit card debt on top of it.If you are certain you have your spending under control such that you are now living within your means, and not adding new debt, then it is always better to pay less interest than more. Consolidation can be one way to achieve that.However, if youve found yourself in debt once, you are more at risk of doing it again, in that way its similar to having a heart attack. You can get a quadruple-bypass and have stents installed if you want, but if you dont stop eating those double-bacon-cheeseburgers youre still going die and its not gonna be pleasant. 