1. Take action early
Cut back further on spending and reduce your payments, talk to a free; debt counseling service such as the CCCS, Citizens Advice or Pay plan, they should be able to help you to come to an arrangement with creditors to reschedule your debts. And, do not ignore letters from your creditors and hope that they will go away and forget all about you and the money that you owe them, because, they won't go away.

If you are in such deep trouble with debt that you are simply unable to cut back, AVOID like the plague, any organization that claims it can help you with your debts but, charges you a fee for doing so or have a premier number to call them on. These numbers are normally over a £1 per minute.

2. Prioritize your debt.
There are other ways to take control. First, make a list of your debts and what you need to repay immediately. Some debts are "priority debts" and you should endeavor to meet them in full.

Priority debts include:

a. Your mortgage, as your lender can take court action for repossession of your home.
b. Rent arrears, as the landlord can evict you if you fail to pay
c. Income tax and VAT, as you can be made bankrupt or imprisoned for non-payment
d. Court fines, as the court can send in bailiffs (See when the Bailiffs call) to repossess your goods if you fail to pay, or have you sent to prison.
e. Maintenance, child support or council tax or rates, as once again; bailiffs and jail are the penalties for nonpayment
f. Fuel debts, because you face disconnection for non-payment, and hire purchase on essential items.

Non Priority debts

Non-priority debts include: credit card and store card arrears, catalogue arrears, bank overdrafts and loans, hire purchase on non-essential goods, and money borrowed from family or friends.

These are civil debts and, unless you have committed fraud whilst incurring these debts, it is unlikely that you will be sent to prison or lose your possessions (see: when the bailiffs call) but it will impact adversely on your ability to get further credit.

However, they will try, and can make your life a misery whilst you owe them the money so, it is advisable to come to an agreement with your creditors. They rely heavily on your sense of shame of being in debt,

They will threaten you with CCJ's, attachment to earnings (they won't get away with that) they may think the threat of your employer knowing your financial situation may frighten you into paying up. If they do, you have them by the, "short and curlies," as they are in breach of the data protection act. (this only applies to NON Priority debts).

Whatever you do, do not panic, keep your cool and ask for help from an independent source (See: above) and if you are ex military you can also contact SSAFA or, The Royal British Legion .

They will not pay off your debt, but they will help you. You will need support and you will need help, this support and help is available for FREE. Do Not be afraid or ashamed to contact them, they are there to help and support you.

3.Trim your outgoings
Next, look at ways you can cut back. It should go without saying that you should be trying to reduce your spending. You could start by seeing if a change of electricity and gas supplier or telephone supplier could save you money. It would also be worth checking out if you make any savings on your home or car insurance.

4. Efficient debt management
The most important thing you can do is manage your debt more efficiently. You may also be able to reduce your monthly repayments on your loans and credit card bills. If you have a mortgage that is being charged on the lender's standard variable rate, you can almost certainly get a better deal by shopping around for a fixed rate or discounted offer Credit card debt is one of the most expensive ways to borrow money. So if you can't pay off your borrowing each month, look for a card that has a low or 0% deal on balance transfers and/or purchases. (See credit card company scams) However, Remember, this is just a holding operation, and you are going to have to repay the money one day .Meanwhile, stop spending on your credit card.

5. Debt Consolidation where possible and practicable.
If you have unsecured loans, see if you can get a better offer elsewhere. But, be very careful and watch out, as there may be expensive penalties for repaying the old loan early, which you need to take into consideration when calculating if you would benefit by switching.

You may be able to consolidate your smaller loans into one larger loan, (consolidate your smaller debts into one big debt),but this should be done with extreme care as, it may solve a short term problem, but the interest rate over a longer period, which may seem like a good affordable idea at the time will cost you more money.

If you have equity in your home, you may be able to increase your mortgage to cover your other debts, and pay the total sum off over the period of the home loan. This could appear to be a cheap way of solving your problem, reducing your monthly outgoings, but it is a dangerous strategy unless you have a lot of equity in your house, as you run the risk of losing your home if you are unable to meet your increased mortgage payments at any time in the future.

My advice is,"GET, Good Independent Advice, before you commit."

6. You could take out a consolidation loan?
This rolls up all your other debts into one larger loan, but the rate of interest may be higher than you had before, and the way that the lender is able to make the deal attractive is to extend the loan period. The lender may also insist that you to take out expensive insurance. This will mean you being saddled with debt for many years, and paying far more in interest than you would have if you had stuck to the original loans.

7. Think before you spend.
Even when you are earning your substantial income and you are debt free, and something catches your eye that you would like to have. Just ask yourself!!. I can afford it, BUT, do I really, need it?

Enjoy being debt free .
It really is possible to be debt free in 5 Years.