It may seem demoralizing when you are in debt. You see no way out when life seems like a financial struggle. However, there is no need to despair as the good news is there is no such thing as an unsolvable debt problem. It may not be easy or quick but there is always a way out of debt.

Debt needs to be dealt with urgently otherwise you can spiral into trouble. The earlier you can address your debt issues, the easier they will be to deal with.

There are two types of debt and hence two ways of dealing with your debt. It depends if you are in debt crisis or just have a couple of large or worrying debts.

Debt crisis is when you can't even afford the minimum repayments on all of your debts or cannot meet all your necessary outgoings. If your debts are big but you can still afford the repayments on all debts, even at the minimum payments, you are not in debt crisis and a different approach is required.

If you think you are in debt crisis then don't despair – there is a way to deal with your situation. Even for those in crisis the terminal option, bankruptcy, is quite rare. If you are in crisis, the fact that you are researching information is a great start. Many people bury their heads in the sand and close their eyes to reality and won't face facts which is the worse thing you can do.

The following debt help checklist is primarily designed to prevent people from getting into debt crisis. It may help you meet your minimum outgoings and therefore avoid your crisis snowballing out of control.

The idea of the checklist is to explore every option available and use the ones that work for you. Some of the suggestions only work for people with a good credit record and not too many severe debts. However, it's still worth checking. Once you have found something that works, keep going down the list trying everything that is applicable for you.

Debt Crisis Checklist

• Budget & Reduce outgoings. When in debt, put together a budget is essential. You need to know exactly what is going in and what is going out.
• Check your benefits. You may be entitled to help in the form of benefits.
• Reclaim miss-sold charges. Some of your debt may have charges that were illegitimately taken from you. You may be able to claim back some of your bank charges and credit card charges as well as mortgage exit fees.
• Check your credit rating score. It's worth checking your ability to get new cheap credit isn't being obstructed by invalid data on your credit rating files.
• Move your debts to a cheaper credit card. Consider 0% balance transfers, but beware as there could be charges to set up the card. Shop around for the best deal.
• Cut credit card cost without new credit. New credit cards are not always necessary as some lenders allow existing customers to move other debts to them at special rates.
• Cheap personal loan. Shop around for the best deal. As it's a fixed payment each month, you know where you are.
• Use you savings to repay your debt. The interest paid on savings is usually far less than the interest that is charged on borrowing. Paying off your debts with any savings is a must.
• Beware of minimum credit card repayments. It is dangerous to only pay back the minimum repayment. These are designed to get you hooked in for years and it will many years to pay back your debts if you go down this route.
• Remortgage. Shift your credit card and other loan debts onto your mortgage. On the surface the debt is cheaper and the total repayments will be cheaper per month. However, as the mortgage is secured against your house, you are moving unsecured debt to secured debt thus increasing the risk of losing your home if you can't repay. Consider this option wisely.