One great article I found on the subject was Debt Reduction Programs – Pros and Cons over at the site reducedebtfaster.com. This article discusses the pros and cons of working different types of companies that promise to reduce your debt.

What I found out was that it was possible to get help from some of these companies, while many others were pretty much a bad idea to work with. However, even the helpful options are not meant for everyone.

Basically, your own unique circumstances must be taken into consideration when deciding on approach your debt. In other words, there is no one size fits all approach in the world of debt reduction.

Unfortunately, while I had a bit more knowledge than I started with, this left me back at square one regarding how to approach my debt. I was beginning to think that there really was no help for getting out of debt and I would be enslaved to my credit card companies forever. I think that this is probably a feeling that many of you probably share with me!

What I ended up doing was calling a non-profit credit counseling agency. The credit counselor I spoke with was extremely helpful to me. He went over my entire finances and discussed all of my options with me.

He was also very patient with me, because I had millions of questions after trying to research the subject on my own. He was very knowledgeable and answered all of my questions regarding the different options I had come across.

I don’t know if I was just lucky or what, but the counselor I spoke to was not pushy at all and did not try to push me in any particular direction. He gave me very accurate information from what I can tell, and he did try to present all the facts. He only encouraged me that I do commit to taking action and coming up with some type of plan to get out of debt.

After all of my research and what feels like an epic journey, I finally feel like I am closer to becoming debt free. After all of these adventures, my advice to anyone I know is to speak to a counselor at a non profit credit counseling agency. Unless you are very intelligent and knowledgeable in the world of credit and debt, you should let a qualified professional give you answers and information on reducing your debt.

However, with all this debt information readily available to us, we might need to know how to sift through this information to find what you need.  Because all the piles of information that’s out there on reducing debt may sound overwhelming,  and finding what you need doesn’t have to be a difficult process.

Basically, the key is to ask yourself  four simple questions about any piece of getting out of debt information that you think should aid you

1. Does It Pertain to My Current Financial Situation?

If you’re looking to get out of credit card debt, then articles on mortgage reduction isn’t what you need to read up on. Likewise, if you’ve paid off your student loans, then  loan reduction programs should not be of any interest to your right now.

To decide if a piece of getting out of debt info will be useful, study  it carefully. Ask yourself if you are in the same or a similar boat  to the debt  problem discussed in the information. If you are, hold on to it. If not,  file it under cabinet ” G” for garbage.

2. How Reliable is the Source?

While anyone can provide getting out of debt info, it may not be useful to you unless the person is trained to deal with debt or has some experience getting out of debt themselves. Sometimes, people will even try to lure you into more debt by giving poor advice or charging exorbitant rates for their info.

Always check the credentials of any source before you follow their financial or get out of debt advice. Most times, you could do a  simple Google search to help you determine whether or not that particular financial advisor or guru can be trusted.

3. Is the information old, and no longer viable?

Though there are pages of information about reducing debt available online, in books, and in magazines, much of it only repeats things you’ve heard before. Helpful as a piece of getting out of debt info might be, you only need to hear it once. After that, it will only clutter up the situation even more.

4. Is it Something I Can Do?

While a particular piece of information might be relevant, reliable and new, if it’s not something you can do right now to change your financial situation, it’s probably not worth keeping. It may be tempting to hang on to something for later, but consider your situation carefully and only do this if you’re almost positive you’ll eventually be able to use it.

For instance, someone might tell you to save a certain percentage of your salary every month. If you’re using all of your salary to pay necessary bills, this isn’t something you can right now, and so that piece of getting out of debt info won’t be useful for you.

5. Action!

Once you’ve narrowed down the getting out of debt info to the items that are actually useful for you, make sure you follow the advice the info gives. It won’t do you any good stacked on your kitchen table or shoved into a corner of your office!