If you have ever been in deep debt before, you know what a traumatic thing it can be. It happened to me just a couple of years ago, and I'm still feeling the effects. It wasn't all at once. It was a slow process. Many people do not realize it, but as strange as it seems, $20,000 of debt can sneak up on you. It happened to me, so I know. If it were not for bad credit debt consolidation loans, I would be done for.