With the way we swipe and say plastic instead of cash, it's not much of a wonder why many of us hit rock bottom in the finance department.
As we go through financial crisis of all sorts and think about the piling bills stacked on our desk, you would find yourself contemplating between the many different debt reliefs programs offered.
Two of the most common ways out would be debt counseling and debt consolidation.
What's the difference? Debt counseling is just as it name says, counsels your financial standings by evaluating your bills, accounts and so on.
They will go through your current situation and access the damage you've brought on and then they will discuss what the best thing you can do next is.
With a variety of debt solutions and effective programs available, the agent you get referred to will show you what went wrong and how debt relief can help solve your problems.
On top of that, they will also give you a few educational lessons on money managements and help you learn how to spend effectively based on your monthly income.
On the other hand, debt consolidation is the quick way out if you've got no time to spare but the process can take awhile, depending on how much you can fork out a month.
The company you choose will pull together all your debts and help you sort them out in one go instead of doing it one by one.
With loans and collateral up front, you will soon have a clean slate in front of you but bear in mind that you would need to change your habits in order to maintain it.
Many people opt for secured debt consolidation because of the larger value, but you must be warned that if you don't work toward fixing your financial problems and take the loan lightly, then you'd be at risk of losing your property placed as collateral.
Deciding between both these options can get a little bit frustrating, so get someone to go through your financial situation and do a light assessment and then decide what to do.
Maybe you could approach a debt counseling agent and get an opinion or two on what the right move is.
The most important thing to remember is that once you see that you're in trouble, do something about it immediately and do just sit on it because it will only get worse from there on.
So if your bills start coming in red and calls don't stop, start looking for debt relief.