Hey man, It’s a growing epidemic. Americans are getting into more and more debt . We have more debts to pay off than anytime in our history. Sometimes, it’s a bad situation, like loss of job, or medical bills. Other times, it’s because the interest rates have gone up, and you are using credit cards to pay off your Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM). And then there is the common one, people just like to be extravagant, and live beyond their means. They use credit cards to buy everything. They have no fiscal restraint. Credit cards catch you with high interest rates, late charges, and service fees. Now you’re screwed, because you can’t get out from this mountain of credit debt , unless of course you win the lottery.

The first thing you need to do is get debt advice . Find out what the best options are for you. Maybe filing bankruptcy is the best option for you. If you choose that route, check if you qualify. The most common route is to debt consolidate , or more commonly known as debt consolidation .

If you decide the consolidate your debt , then find out what the best debt consolidation plans are out there. The special case of course is California, since the housing bubble burst more and more people are in debt. In this case, you might want to find a California debt consolidation company. They can help consolidate your debt. The good news is in California, if you have tremendous equity in your home, you can take out a debt consolidation home equity loan to help pay your mortgage or even other bills.

The situation becomes more complicated when your credit is shot. Most of the time, it’s because of late payments on credit cards, mortgages, or loans etc. In this case, you can try and see if you can apply for bad credit debt consolidation loans . In other words, debt consolidation companies that specialize in getting loans for people with bad credit.

There are many types of debt problems . Some are due to credit card spending that lead to bad credit. In this instance, you might want to consider consolidation credit debt options to pay off your credit card debt. There are various debt consolidation help out there. They commonly offer credit debt help , credit debt counseling services , and of course credit card debt consolidation . Most likely, they may put you on a secured debt consolidation plan.

If you are tight on a budget, and cannot afford any of these debt consolidation services, and are still interested in a consolidation debt loan , there are various free debt consolidation services. Most of them are non profit debt consolidation organizations. They can offer the most unbiased opinion because they are not for profit. In fact, they are sometimes better than the ones you pay for. But you need to do your homework when it comes to free debt help. Some are excellent, some are terrible, and some are just okay. The best thing to do is find more information from the Better Business Bureau .

Hopefully, after considering your budget, the type of services and the features the company offers, and the company or organization you want to go with you can find the right debt consolidation program .

Of course if you have decent credit, and you know you are over your head, you can apply for low interest debt consolidation loan , unsecured debt consolidation loan , or personal debt consolidation loans .

The very last resort, if debt relief help is not an option, you can consideration debt settlement firms. They can help you settle your debt cents on the dollar. However, be aware if you choose this path, your credit history will be shot. The credit report will show late payments upon late payments. These debt settlement companies say they can cannot advise you on whether you should pay the creditors while you are on the debt settlement plan. The reality is when you are paying X number of dollars, or saving X number of dollars to gather a certain amount of money for debt settlement, you don’t have enough money to pay the creditors. How it works is, you save up, or a mass usually 60% of your total principal debt, and at that point you can request a settlement of that particular account.

Whatever option you choose there are pro’s and con’s. Only you know which is best. The best advice I can give you is DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Good luck on resolving your ordeal on getting out of debt . Peace Out, Dudes!!!