Debt has become more common as the economy has changed and credit restrictions were lowered. Five years ago anyone could get credit whether they has a decent credit score or not. And a few years after that the economy experienced a down turn that put many people in a position where it became difficult or impossible to make payments on their consumer debt.

There are several options that you can use to get out of debt. They may not all work for you and you may find it best to use more than one of the methods depending on how old your debt is and what type of debt you have. The first of these options is to pay the debt off on your own. You will have to decrease your spending as much as possible and look for extra money to pay on your debt. Calling your credit card companies and asking them to reduce your interest rates and snowballing your payments are an important part of this plan.

Debt counseling is another alternative for debt repayment. Most unsecured debts can be placed in this plan. It will consolidate these debts without a loan allowing you the convenience of making only one payment each month. Your interest rates are lowered and your fees are eliminated. This is a credit friendly option of debt relief that should have your debt paid off in five years or less. Keep in mind there will be some financial obligations that cannot be placed in this program, but most consumer debt can be enrolled in a debt management plan.

Debt settlement is a method of debt relief whereby the total debt owed on the account is reduced through a negotiation process with the lender. The negotiation should be done by you and not a debt settlement service. This option will ruin your credit. So you may want to make sure that there is no other alternative that will work for you. There is no guarantee on how much your debt will be reduced or if the lender will reduce it at all, although most of them will. Not all debts can be settled. You are pretty much stuck with student loans, tax debt and alimony.

Bankruptcy is a last resort for debt elimination. This is not the clean slate alternative that it used to be and it will trash your credit. But many believe that if you owe more than you make in a year, it may be your only option. And here again, there are some debts that cannot be discharged through bankruptcy. You may want to consider contacting a credit counseling company. Many of them offer resources for debt management, debt settlement and bankruptcy and they will help you decide what will work best for you. You do also have the option to get a debt consolidation loan, but these are normally secured with your home and are a terribly unwise decision in today's economy.