I fully agree with all that's stated here. Paying off smaller debts first is critical for freeing up extra money to put towards larger debts. In my experience, it seems like the smaller debts are always the ones that end up taking most of my money! Also, I've never heard of Fusion Cash. I'll check it out and good advice.

Great blog. With the economy these days, there are so many (including myself) adding on more debt. These are very sensible and realistic steps to pay off your debt. Depending on how much you owe, it may take awhile (years) to actually pay it off, but I agree that even a big problem needs to be taken care of step by step. I really like the first advice to make an emergency fund... that's so necessary.

I have to say, suggestion number 2 was a life saver for me. I was overwhelmed with bills and debt. Then one day I sat down and listed my weekly expenses. I saw that I was spending too much on frivolous items and I hadn't even realized it. I put a limit to my spending every week. If I was under that limit, I'd put the leftover money into savings. It worked wonders for me!

VERY well written!! This blog has now helped me figure out how to create a written budget. I've tried so many times, and it always looks like a huge mess. I wish I would've stumbled upon this blog before i went to my debt consolidation place. Now i'm stuck in a 20 month contract with them. It is a good, legit place, but according to your blog, I could've figured out how to do this all by myself. I would DEFINITELY recommend this to anyone who is having financial problems. Oh, and you also got me onto this fusioncash site. Thanks!!

Getting out of debt today? Where are you going to get a thousand dollars if you don't even know where you're going to get gas money to get to work? These are some good ideas, but not very realistic. For some people, that thousand might as well be a million.

Everything you said is so true. I always have an emergency fund. You never know what financial crisis will strike you next. Keep it up

Great tips. Most of these tips can be found elsewhere on the web, but they are the tried and true strategies that can help you get and stay on solid financial system. I'm glad the blogger is recommending a larger emergency fund. A lot of places only recommend $500, but that is just not enough.

I would recommend this article to several people. These are great tips for someone to gain financial stability in their life and work towards building wealth. Many people let their debt spin out of control and then ignore taking the necessary steps of getting it paid off, usually opting to file bankruptcy. With a proper budget and some discipline, bankruptcy can be avoided and a debt-free future can be a possibility.

I've been avoiding my student loans by stretching out my last remaining credit hours with just a couple of online classes each semester. Probably not the best long-term plan, I know.

I think that was explained beautifully, I totally agree with every word you said, Saving money may not always be easy but I do believe it is necessary, I truly appreciated how you worded everything in regards to saving money... Great Job!!!!!!!

This is a great list of actions to take to help eliminate debt. I do however, think step number two is not entirely realistic. Perhaps some people have no trouble saving that amount of money, but that's way beyond the amount I even have leftover in a year if I bought no extras. Still good tips though.

This is very important and sound advice, especially in these days when it seems like everyone is up to their eyeballs in mortgage and credit card debt.

I like the fact that you've given step by step tips that really do make a huge difference if they are actually practiced - that's the hard part. ;-)

I started almost 2 years ago looking for a way to make some additional income for extra's and savings, like you mentioned in point 3. Who would have thought that it would have been by making money online? Certainly not me!

It's a great feeling to know that you have that cushion of savings (emergency fund) just in case you need it.

Great food for thought!

This is good solid '101' advice. Good blog and very good advice.

Very helpful blog. It is so important to hold to a written budget. I also loved your last point. It is so easy to feel overwhelmed with the number of debts. Focusing on one is essential. Thanks for the blog!!

This is a well written article but should be a little more realistic. I am working towards becoming an Accredited Financial Counselor so with that and personal experience, some of the tips aren't too realistic for most. Actually the amount recommended to be saved for your emergency fund is six months. That will alarm some people but there are resources to look where that money may already be such as life insurance (cash value policies), savings accounts, etc. It doesn't necessarily have to be in hand, just accessible when needed. For some this could even be their 401K. Yes, there's a penalty for early withdrawal but if it's a true emergency, know that is emergency money for you. A lot of people stress about the 6 months savings, but already have that amount somewhere saved up. They may even have valuables at home worth that. No one wants to do away with such valuables but our jewelry, electronics, etc. hold value as well. Perhaps that would have been helpful to include for readers who saving up even 2-3 months is difficult so they could see some light at the end of the broke tunnel as I call it.

I love the part to write the budget down. Most people never write it down and therefore it never gets acted on and leaves nothing to look at and review to see how well it's being followed. Your 4th step would have been helpful in this paragraph perhaps because you need to know what you have to work with total (including all expenses) when creating your budget. You don't want to create a budget and then after seeing who you will pay, go back and see you have no room on the budget sheet for it. Just a suggestion.

The article is good, especially for those needing to save. The secret to saving is really being very frugal...yes CHEAP! I am Mrs. Pennypincher but we have saved so much lately. Coupons help,too. Thanks for the article.

All the points stated are really good examples and really worth reading and understanding. Thanks for the suggestions they are really helpful.

This is a super article at this time in our country. Very concise and well written, and quick easy tips. It makes you feel like you could actually help yourself make money or get out of debt-inspirational even within its practicality.

Excellent advice. Although saving up for that emergency fund is going to be tough! The creative money-making ideas are fabulous and #5 is something I'm working on now -- I used that method and am left with only two cards to pay off out of the five I started with!

I think your article is terrific! As someone who has previously paid off $46,000 in non mortgage consumer debt I have to say your advice is spot on and we used all of the points you listed to get out of consumer debt ourselves.
Besides life is so much easier with out that nasty old debt hanging over ones head!

Great advice! I was shocked to find out how much I was spending when I wrote it down! It was crazy!

Nothing really new here, but it all bears repeating. It's the biggest surprise in your life when you realize where all your money goes!

These are great tips, although I'd like to add that another thing to do is to really look at what you're spending your money on. Making a budget and finding out that you're overspending is pointless unless you really dedicate yourself to reducing your monthly costs.

Eliminating unnecessary expenditures can really help free up money. Do you really need that $4.00 coffee in the morning? Is buying your lunch everyday (vs. brownbagging it) really worth it?

These are the basics and a good place to start. Limiting your spending habit is another area that needs to be addressed. We are working on this with our kids to teach them good money habits as soon as they begin getting regular income - even though it is small.

These are all very helpful tips, especially for me--a college student quickly piling up the loans and lines of credit. I try to maintain a certain level of organization with each bill, but it gets tricky sometimes (especially when I live in a city where rent keeps going up!). I like your suggestion on trying to save up for an "emergency fund", I really want to utilize this idea, although actually being able to save money is easier said than done, in my case! College books = expensive!

Great ideas for helping to alleviate financial stress and working your way out of the debt cycle. While there are a lot of great ideas, sometimes it is hard to put all the ideas to work for you. For some, getting a second job is not feasible. For others it is. Some people can't sell crafts, etc. I know I am working my butt off to boost my income, and I think I am at my max!

This is good albeit common advice. It is important to have a tangible written budget so you know how you are finacially. I'm going to check out fusion cash even though it seemed a little like an advertisement

I agree with CL Craigslist but no way on Fushion cash. Its easy to save when everyone else is around you. Part of the reason people spend too much money is due to competition and trying to stay with fat cats. Now all our big homes and fancy cars are almost worthless

These tips are excellent and I'm going to try all of them in an attempt to help dwindle down my debt. It takes work and diligence to pay off debt, and I think this blog makes that clear. But it also makes it clear that it is possible to be debt-free with some effort. Excellent!

Really good advice. My new year's resolution for 2009 is to pay off two of my credit cards and I plan on working very hard to do that. The steps you've provided are great the only thing that would be really hard for me is the safety net, but I think its a good idea.

This is very helpful. I used to be in debt for so long, until i read about the 'snowball effect' elsewhere. That really helped a lot.

Good point about coming up with creative ideas to boost income!

Absolutely fantastic advice. Extremely well written and you spell everything out clearly. I'm guilty of not living by all of these, but I really do need to start to. It'd be better to start now than end up regretting it in the future. Thank you very much for the article!

Great blog that you written on getting out of debt. Especially in todays world everybody has debt which is the worst of all. You gave great advice on howing to fix your finances and to start savingmoney. Great Job

I agree with this blog, but then I disagree. If you're in debt in the first place, it's virtually impossible to save up $2,000. Especially when you can think of at least 100 different things to do with it, to further assist your financial situation. I do agree that you need to have a safety net, but some people just can't do one that high. Be more realistic. I do, however, agree with everything else this blog says. It's sad to see what our world is coming to, and I thank you for the advice and tips on how to make our personal lives a little better.

Fusion Cash? I am most definitely checking out that site!

I only have one problem with this blog. How in the world when I am in such debt, am i going to in reality save 2k in cash in a viable amount of time?

I agree wholeheartedly though with the idea of getting rid of debt. In any way you can possibly do so, you should. Sadly the American populace doesn't seem to agree with me... as seen by the average debt an American citizen has eh?

Great advice, but I have to agree with the other commenters that a few are a little unrealistic. I've never been in debt, but I try my best to stay out of it by having alternate income streams, which I think is one of the things that can be done to get out of debt.

This was a very good post and very at a very good considering the way the economy is. I have hopes of being debt free one day, maybe one day I will attain that dream. Being in debt is like being a slave to the lender.

These are really amazing ideas to help me stay out of debt. I hope the emergency fund idea will help me in the future. Thanks alot.

Unlike many other "fix your credit" posts - this article actually has ideas that feel doable. Thanks!

This is really great advice. I am in the position to take this advice right now so I will be incorperating all of this into my life. I really like step one. That is where I was having my problem!