As a smart shopper you need to do the math on whether the amount you will pay over the life of your refinancing will be worth the monthly reduction in your outgoings. Sit down with a calculator and a pen and figure out the monthly payment of the loan multiplied by the term. Then do a similar calculation with your outstanding credit card balances taking the monthly minimum payment. A non profit consolidation organization would, on the face of it, seem a better choice than a bill consolidation service run by a profit making company wouldn't it? Well the answer is yes and no. Let me explain. There is no guarantee that an organization offering bill consolidation services will be any better just because they're non profit. Of course this is the age of the internet so as an alternative to books you can search for financial and stock market terminology online. The important thing to bear in mind with this is that you should only use reputable and trusted sources. Remember that the 'net is unregulated and anyone can put up a site without bothering to check their facts. He advocates never placing money into any venture that he doesn't immediately understand such as micro technology. A second guideline for the newcomer to stocks is to do your own checking before parting with any cash. As Buffett says "A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought." If you are planning to make an investment doesn't it make sense to check things for yourself? One of the things that can help you is to check out which of the CDs gives you the highest rate using online research. All the CD providing organizations have websites with complete details on how their services work. These financial institutions are very clear on imparting knowledge about their CD products so that they can attract more customers. You can either make your own decisions on where to place your investment money or alternatively get a professional to do it on your behalf. Whichever one you decide on it is always a good idea to paper trade first. That is where you decide on a particular stock and only place the order on paper. This will help you to see if you are happy with the market fluctuations as well as with the types of choices either you or your adviser made.