• Take positive steps to pay off long-term debt.money money money III image by imagenation from Fotolia.com
  
  Each year more and more Americans are struggling with higher debt and battling the economy. The debt struggle can cause relationship and family stress as well as depression. It may seem overwhelming to pay the debt, but it is possible when the financial situation is honestly addressed and small steps are taken. These small steps add up to long-term debt solutions.
  
  

Debt Consolidation

• Debt consolidation can relieve you of paying multiple bills and interest charges. Look at all of your bills and the amounts to determine if it is worth it to pay one bill with a smaller finance charge. Consolidating debt helps it to get paid quicker. Lending Tree states that "since the new loan is at a lower rate, your new payment will be lower than the combined total of your old payments."
  
  

Create a Budget

• The entire family should be involved when it is time to create the budget. List the monthly bills starting from the most expensive to the least expensive. Discuss the bills and decide if anything can be cut or lessened. Some bills are a priority such as the mortgage and groceries. Look at expenditures like cable TV or dining out expenses. These may be stopped temporarily to use the extra funds toward paying off your debt. You may want to apply extra funds to your lower bills and credit cards to pay those off completely and then move up the list. The money that is no longer used on one bill should be saved to pay off something else, until your list gets shorter.
  
  

Credit Counseling

• Seek a reputable, non-profit credit counselor. This person will look at your finances and debts to give objective advice to improve your financial outlook. The counselor may offer workshops or educational opportunities to better teach the client about resolving debt so that the same mistakes are not made in the future. The credit counselor is there to discuss options with customers and to provide encouragement in a situation that may seem dismal.
  
  

Pay More Than the Minimum

• Paying the minimum balance on credit cards can leave you "in the hole" for years. You may even forget what was charged, yet you are paying for it over and over again. Discuss getting part time jobs with your family. The job could be baby sitting, a newspaper route or working retail on the weekends. The money that an additional job brings in, can be used to pay more toward credit cards. It may seem like a little, but with patience the dollars do add up.