Eliminate Your Debt

If you don't owe any money to anyone for any reason, congratulations! But if you're like most people, you may owe hundreds (if not thousands) of dollars for credit card bills, car loans, student loans, or any number of payment plans that promised low monthly payments only to bury you beneath a mountain of debt before you realize that your total monthly payments represent more money than you happen to make every month.

Before you can focus on getting out of debt, first make a promise to yourself to stop accumulating more debt. Ask yourself what's more important - your acting career or buying lots of stuff that you probably don't really need? One way to avoid accumulating more debt is to cut up all but one credit card and use it only when absolutely necessary, such as for renting a car or making an airline or hotel reservation.

As soon as you make the decision to stop accumulating more debt, you need a plan for eliminating your existing debt. The following list contains tips on how you can eliminate your debt:

Make paying off loans and credit card bills a priority

Allocate a percentage of each paycheck to paying off a loan or large credit card bill and pay more than the minimum amount each month. (Ideally, pay it all off, so you don't wind up getting charged 18.5 percent interest for a pizza you bought three weeks ago with your credit card.) After you get into the habit of paying off your bills early, you can use that extra money previously earmarked for one debt to speed up payments off another debt.

Consolidate your debts

If you owe money to a dozen different people, you can often save money by consolidating your debt into a single new loan. Debt consolidation works by getting a borrower to pay off all your debts. So instead of owing money to half a dozen different companies, you now owe money to a single company. Not only does this loan make tracking your bills easier, but the new loan often charges a substantially lower interest rate than the combination of your previous loans, thereby saving you money in the long run.

Many credit card companies may offer to pay off your other credit card debt if you switch to their credit card instead. Although this service is a form of debt consolidation, watch out. Often your new credit card account will offer a low introductory interest rate, such as 4.9 percent, but after a few months, that interest rate could suddenly skyrocket to 19.5 or more.

Curb compulsive shopping

If you're a compulsive shopper, chances are good that you're using shopping as a way to make up for a deficiency elsewhere in your life, whether it be a miserable marriage, a job you can't stand, or just an overall feeling of low self-esteem. Try to correct the underlying reason that you got into debt in the first place.

Contact Debtors Anonymous

If you're in over your head, Debtors Anonymous can help you get out of debt by using the same principles that work for organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous.