by Kristen Stamey

Created on: June 18, 2008

As we all know, Oprah has an answer for everything. Her latest money problem solution has been her new program, "Oprah's Debt Diet." This program has eight basic steps to get people back on track with their finances. These steps are as follows;

Step # 1: Find out exactly how much debt you have.
Step # 2: Track your spending and find extra money to pay down debt.

Step # 3: Learn to play the credit card game.
Step # 4: Stop spending.
Step # 5: Create a monthly spending plan.
Step # 6: Take big steps to grow your income.
Step # 7: Prioritize your debts and raise your credit score.
Step # 8: Understand your spending issues and save.

On Oprah's website you can find several success stories of families that have been in extreme debt and have found stable ground again. You can learn from other people's mistakes and get advice from the experts. There is a Question and Answer column, calculators. and other tools to decide what your budget should be compared to your income; helpful hints on videos, a contract to sign to insure your seriousness to solve your debt problem, and a DVD you can purchase that has the first five episodes containing the "Debt Diet" information.

This program teaches users how to come to grips with the amount of debt they have, find ways to start saving such as smarter grocery shopping and eating out less, setting up a budget to have a plan to pay off the debt and keep from accruing more debt in the process, and various tools to make getting out of debt easier and less stressful. You can read the updates on the families who have succeeded and find out how they maintain the balance as well as ask the experts your questions.

The debt diet program suggests that you get your credit report from all three credit agencies to ensure you know exactly how much debt you have out there. These are Experian, Equifax, and TranUnion. Also, most people don't realize that credit card rates are negotiable! Tell that credit card company that you are going to close that account and they will immediately work with you to keep that from happening. You can lower your interests rates a great deal by telling them they're about to lose a customer. Make changes to your lifestyle but doing your own nails, coloring your own hair, maybe having a family member cut hair for free, using washable silverware and plates instead of buying paper plates and plastic, and trying not to eat out very much or go to the theatre to see many movies. These types of expenses can add up dramatically and you'll be amazed by how much money you save that can be put down on some of that debt!

The financial experts state that even paying $10 per day on your credit cards or various debts will help tremendously in bringing that debt down and can actually have you paying $8,000.00 down in three years. Using the tools on Oprah's website, www.oprah.com/money/debtdiet can help anyone get out of debt and stay there.

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