"Help me get out of debt, you say?" OK. Getting mired down in an excessive amount of debt, especially personal debt, like consumer credit card debt, is a very common problem these days. You need to take control of the situation and do everything you must to get started on paying down on your debts. Here are 7 Top Methods for Paying down Debt that may help you:

1. Assume responsibility. It's actually a psychological thing. You must assume responsibility for your personal debt situation, recognize that you just got yourself into it and you are going to have to get yourself out of it. As long as you blame someone or something else, circumstances, the current recession, whatever, you'll likely make excuses as a substitute for doing things you need to undertake to begin reducing debt. Ask yourself, "Who is going to help me get out of debt?" Then answer, "I AM!"

2. Take inventory. You need to obtain a clear picture of all your debts. Make a list of name, balance and effective rate of interest on all of your debts. Get control of your monthly cashflow. What exactly have you been spending and also on what exactly are you spending it? Carry a pocket notepad and record All your expenditures for a month. Create a budget; what do you need to expend every month? List your budgeted outgo, subtract this from your monthly income to get the amount you'll be able to pay down monthly.

3. Study your income and outgo. Hunt for approaches to boost your income and minimize your outgo. You simply must tighten your belt, postpone or forget expenditures you can avoid, as well as finding methods to earn additional income. You have got to get ahead of your monthly payments enough to start getting the highest cost ones paid and off your back.

4. Make a plan, get started. Make your budget, then when your income comes in, set enough aside for the budgeted expenditures. Then utilize the remaining balance to reduce your costliest debt. You will usually need to get out of credit card debt first, since it is usually the most expensive.

5. Tweak the setup as required. Keep tracking your monthly expenditures exactly. Look at what expenses you could reduce or eliminate. Try to find supplemental sources of income. Use your ingenuity. Find ways for being able to make bigger payments on your debts.

6. Continue; baby steps count too. Don't get discouraged. You did not slip into your credit card debt problems in 1 month, so you won't get out in a month either. Sometimes this could be tough, challenging. Don't stop. Do what you are able, the very best that you can. Bear in mind, baby steps count too. Just keep moving forward, towards your goals.

7. Leverage your progress, by first paying off debt with the highest rate of interest. Paying off $1000 of 5% per 30 days debt will provide you with $50 more next month! You may use that for paying high-cost debt down even more, and increase your rate of progress.

That's the essence of it. Keep to the 7 tips above, stick to it, keep moving, and you can and will get there! The important thing is to always live within your income and have a surplus. You should have that to get rid of debt and later, to save up a nest egg for investments and a future contingency account.