Many good people have fallen deep into debt and it is a terrible experience. Perhaps you became one of the many millions of unemployed individuals, and now are unable to meet your credit card and mortgage payments. Or perhaps you live above your means and now have monthly payments that you cant afford. Once you miss a payment, the interest rates on your credit cards or loans can reach as high as 25%. The payments that were once difficult to pay, now become impossible for you to pay. Fortunately, there are companies that specialize in helping people with debt problems. For example, companies that specialize in debt consolidation allow a person to combine several several outstanding debts into a single account, with a lower interest rate and lower monthly payments over a longer period of time.