Unless you have been hiding under a rock without the internet, television or radio you are aware of our growing epidemic of personal debt. When you owe anyone money than the debtor is slave to the creditor. Imagine what you could use the money you pay in interest and fees to your creditors if you didnt have your debt. We all know that live would be better if we all just reduced credit debt. There are many ways to reduce credit debt here are three to think about.

Bankruptcy

This one is the most dramatic so we will start with it. Bankruptcy is basically opening your entire life and laying it out on the table for all to see. If you qualify for bankruptcy then you get to give all of your financial information over to your layer and the courts. If you are in real trouble with debt and need to reduced credit debt before you get sued by a creditor than bankruptcy and all that goes with it might be worth it. If you can take care of your debt problems another way then try that first.

Debt Counseling, Debt Consolidation, Debt Negotiations

Most people would probably argue with me, but all three of these programs are similar to each other. You are going to go to a group that specializes in getting people out of debt. Again you are going to have to hand over your financial information to be analyzed by the counselor you are working with. They will help you talk to your creditors and hopefully negotiate with them. Many of these services will instruct you to send them a set amount of money each month and then they will send the money on to your creditors. Sounds good, but the biggest problem with these services is that most of them are unreliable and down right scammers. There have been countless instances where the service does not pay the creditor on time even though the client played the service on time. When that happens you are the one in trouble with the creditor not the service. These services also charge fees and percentages of your debt to use there service. Do not be fooled by the titles they use like non-profit. They will make a profit from you.

Making a Plan and Going it alone

This one is my favorite and the one I would recommend. First figure out exactly how much you owe and to whom. Then stop buying anything on credit no mater what. You don not want to make the debt bigger; you want to reduced credit debt. Here is the big step and one that most people have a hard time with including me. You sell as much of your belongings as you possibly can, so you can put that money towards your debt. I have completely gotten out of debt that way. Wouldnt it be better to be out of debt than have the stuff? The next step is spending as little as possible to get by in life so you can pay as much as possible on that debt until it is gone.

Good luck to you, I know you can do it.