You also need to understand that when you consolidate credit card debt into mortgage debt - like a home equity loan or a HELOC [ home equity line of credit ] - you're taking an unsecured debt and turning it into a secured debt.

If you are able to settle, you'll be getting off rather easy. Debt settlement companies can sometimes get you off the hook for a large percentage of your debt - in many cases, up to 50% will be written off.

In about one-third of credit card consolidations, within a short period of time, the cards come back out of the wallet, and in no time at all, they're charged back up. Then you're in an even worse position, because you have the credit card debt and the consolidation loan to worry about. You're in a hole that's twice as deep - and twice as steep.

You can have a do-over starting today. But you have to get over the feeling that it's too late

If you're filing bankruptcy, you will likely want to hire an attorney. But for debt settlement, a company is sufficient, or as I said, you can often do the legwork on your own.

You won't be caught off guard and you won't feel guilty, because you'll be spending money that you've allocated for the occasion.

If you have even a smidgen of doubt that you'll be able to stay away from racking up additional debt, don't do it.