Make a spreadsheet

• Get on your computer or take a piece of notebook paper and list all your debts. Order them by highest interest rate to lowest. The idea is to get your head around all your obligations and develop a plan of attack. Knowing how much you owe and what the interest rate on each balance is will give you a starting point. Add up the minimum payments due each month and compare that with how much income you have available to pour onto debt each month. If you don't have at least 20 percent more extra income than the total of your minimum monthly payments, it is recommended you contact your creditors and explain the situation you're in.
  
  

Transfer as much as you can

• Once your spreadsheet is complete, read through the offers you have received for no-interest credit cards and transfer as much of your debt to them. You may be able to qualify for multiple cards at the same time. These programs will allow you to pay no interest on your balance for 12 months or more. This will give you time to get caught up on your past due debts. Your minimum payments should be lower because of the fact your interest rates are less.
  
  

Snowball or avalanche?

• You have all your debts listed and have transferred as much of your debt to no-interest accounts as possible. The next step is to attack your list. Use a snowball attack by paying as much as possible to the lowest balance until it is paid off, all while making minimum payments on the others. This is similar to what debt-free guru Dave Ramsey promotes. Once the first account is paid off, focus on the second, and so on and so forth. The other method when attacking your debt is what is known as the debt avalanche. This method is somewhat opposite to the snowball attack in that you focus first on the debt with the highest interest rate and put all your available cash on it until it is paid off before proceeding to the next highest-rate account.