Become Debt Free Through Debt Consolidation When you have stacks of credit card bills lying around, it’s time to clean up your financial house. A great way to get out of debt quickly is by joining a debt consolidation program. In many cases you can combine multiple credit cards and reduce overall interest thereby lowering your monthly payment. The typical debt consolidation program lasts 36 months. An alternative to debt consolidation is debt settlement which allows you payback pennies on the dollar.