Debt can and will invade all areas of your life.
It is important that you take measures to ensure your financial security.
If you have debt or are not saving at least 10% of your income it is time to make changes that make it possible to be debt free and moving towards financial stability.
The first and probably most difficult thing to do is stop using your credit cards.
It is hard to get your balance to go down when your charges are increasing.
This will be difficult and first thing most debt experts tell you to do is cut up both credit and debit cards and operate strictly with cash.
They advise an envelope system as a form of budgeting.
Do everything you can to reduce your interest rates.
Call your lenders and ask them to reduce your interest rates.
Even a few points will help.
You can transfer your balances to a card with a lower interest rate, but be aware that these rates are usually temporary and that if you make even one late payment you will probably lose the low rate.
Keep track of where your money is going.
A small pad will work for this or a spreadsheet.
This will help you identify areas of unnecessary spending.
You can actually see where your money is going by following this step.
Do what you can to increase your income.
Even an extra $100 per week can shave many months off of the time that it will take you to repay your debt.
Working extra shifts or picking up a part time job are the obvious options, but these are not your only options.
Consider starting a business doing something that you know.
If you feel completely overwhelmed by your debt, you may want to consider credit counseling.
This is a form of debt consolidation that does not require a loan and requires only one payment each month to pay all of your unsecured debts.
You can be debt free in 3 to 5 years with this option.