If you think you are the only person with a debt problem think again, our nation is debt ridden and we have borrowed in many instance over our heads. Instead of realizing the American dream we have instead chained ourselves to the perpetual nightmare.

Debt is like a dead weight that holds you down, if you are overwhelmed with debt then much of your time and energy is devoted to just surviving. It is almost like treading water, you are investing a whole lot of energy and time but you aren't actually going anywhere.

If you are chained to debt then chances are you are at the whim and mercy of other people. You aren't really in control of your destiny, if for instance interest rates were to increase or things that you need start to increase you are now at their mercy. Feeling a loss of control over your life can never be a satisfying way to live and certainly you deserve better for yourself and your family.

So if you want to get rid of the chain of debt once and for all here are a few simply strategies to get you on the road to taking back your life.

The first step as contradictory as it might seem is to start a savings plan. You might be thinking to yourself that you couldn't possibly start saving when you are struggling just to keep the creditors at bay, you are living paycheck to paycheck just to get by. That is all the more reason to start a savings plan. The power of intention is tremendous in obtaining what you want and you want to take back your financial control over your life. You can't have financial control if you don't have a certain level of financial security and that begins with the savings habit. You might be struggling with debt payments right now but you can still open up a high interest account and automatically setup a direct payment from each paycheck. Set a fixed amount, ideally you want to set aside 10% of your paycheck to investing in your future but if this is not feasible why not make this a smaller percentage and work upwards over time.

Work out all the creditors you owe money to. Write out your balances for each of your credit cards, mortgage and personal loans you might have. Be frank and accurate. Dig up all your statements that you have been dreading to look at and its time to be honest about your current financial situation. Write out the name of the creditor, your current balance and the monthly repayment that you are required to make on the debt. You want to also put down the interest rate you are currently being charged. Looking at the debts with the highest interest rates consider whether or not it is possible to move those balances to one that has a lower rate of interest. For example with credit cards you might be able to transfer your balance to a lower rate credit card.

With all your debt detailed on your paper now commit to paying only the minimum for each of the current debts except the one with the lowest balance. The one with the lowest balance is going to be your target to pay off as quickly as possible. If you have any spare or excess funds during any given month you will put it directly into that balance until it is paid off. Once that is paid off then you would then target the debt with the next lowest balance and so on until your debts are paid off. The idea is that as each debt is repaid you now have extra funds available to put towards the next balance.

You want to keep disciplined with this debt repayment schedule and once you are totally out of debt not only will you feel great but because of your savings plan you will also have something to show for it.