Dear Dave, I’ve been seeing lots of ads lately for debt consolidation companies, debt settlement companies, and the HELOC. Are any of these methods for reducing debt a good idea? —Brent Dear Brent, No. These are all bad ideas when it comes to getting out of debt. There’s a lot of buzz these days surrounding all the “quick” and “easy” ways to clean up debt and get control of your finances. But the truth is neither one is ever easy. If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Debt consolidation is basically a loan that combines all your debts into one single payment. Sounds like a great idea at first, right? But then you find out the lifespan of your loans increase, and that means you’ll stay in debt even longer than before. The low interest rate that looks so appealing in the beginning usually goes up over time, …