by E.A. Paul

Created on: March 14, 2009   Last Updated: March 29, 2009

Getting out of debt can prove to be a big overwhelming task, but it can be done. Now, it won't happen over night, as you didn't get yourself into debt over night.

The first step to getting out of debt, is to have a burning desire to want to get out. You may wish you were out of debt, but this isn't good enough. You need a burning desire. It's just like quitting smoking, you need a burning desire to quit, not just wishful thinking.

The reason you need a burning desire to get out of debt is because you are going to have to change the way you think, plus make some major life style changes. Without a burning desire, these changes aren't possible. The next step is to be 100% committed to getting out of debt. You need a very strong commitment. Again, without a strong commitment, you won't get out of debt. This commitment has to be long term, as it might take you a few years to get out of debt.

One scenario of indebtedness is severe credit card debt. Like me, you might have found yourself in a place where you needed to charge the bare necessities of life, like food and rent. The thinking goes this way. You figure that you have twenty thousand dollars worth of credit on your Visa card, and your monthly payments are about fifty dollars a month....you think....I can handle that. Fifty a month isn't so bad. You keep on charging, now you're paying one hundred a month. You charge more, so you pay more per month. Soon, your card gets maxed out and you're paying two hundred a month at twenty three percent! Yikes! Now you're stuck. Not only can you not make those two hundred a month payments, you can't charge more food or rent. You're in big trouble.

This is only one situation that can be your financial ruin. A lot of people fall for this easy way to pay for things. It always catches up with you. When it does, it's time for you to take a serious look at how you're going to start paying those minimum monthly payments. Here's where the burning desire and commitment comes in. So there you are, you have the burning desire and you want to make the commitment to pay back your debt. This means you will take any steps necessary to start paying the debt.

A good place to start is a credit counseling service. There are lots of them out there, but you need to find a reputable one....one that's been in business a long time. What they do is negotiate a lower interest rate with your creditors. I am paying a six percent interest rate on my Visa. Of course they charge a fee, but the lower interest

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