Face the facts

The hardest part of getting out of debt and your first step to finding debt relief is realizing you are having problems paying off what you owe. It may sound easy, but it is the most common reason people find themselves facing home foreclosures and bankruptcy in their lives. You must not make the mistake of denying you are headed for a financial crisis. Follow these steps and take control of your debt before it takes control of you. Admit to yourself that you are falling behind and your debt is growing. It is a small step, but the most important one.

Look at the big picture

Sit down and look at your overall financial picture. A good trick is getting a copy of your credit report and see exactly how much you are paying out each month, and how much you really owe. The results may surprise you. Add up all your debts and then prioritize them from the ones with the highest interest rates to the lowest ones. These high interest rate lines of credit need to be paid off the soonest as they are the ones which will hurt you the most in the end. Look at what you owe and don't be afraid of it. You can live debt free, but first you must know what you are up against. Getting a hold of detailed information about what you owe and for how long just puts you in the driver's seat to managing your personal debt.

A little financial planning goes a long way

There is no way around it, if you owe more every month than you are making, you are in debt and if you don't get debt help soon you are heading for serious trouble. Making those minimum monthly payments on your credit cards makes the credit card companies happy, but you are not getting ahead on your debt, in fact your debt is getting quickly ahead of you. Sit down and make a detailed budget based on your income. Look at all your monthly expenses and set a specific amount for each. Then stick to it, the real test of whether you have made a budget that works. Cut out the stuff that you just don't need right now. Eating out just one less time a week can equal hundreds of dollars a month, money that you can use to get out of debt now.

Just say No to more debt

You need to constantly say to yourself over and over again no to more debt. While trying to fix your debt problems the worst thing you can do to yourself is take on anymore debt. Just say no and throw out any new offers of loans or credit. Remove yourself from junk mailing lists, which include most credit card offers now. Talk to a professional debt counselor and let them help you get out of debt, live debt free, and get on with your life.