Cutting back on your spending and lowering the amount of debts that you hold is difficult for someone who wants fewer bills to pay. Debt consolidation plans and debt relief methods are many and have a lot of benefits and to make sure your plans work, you must take care of the following: make sure to come out of debt in three to five years maximum, read through all the documents to well verse yourself with the terms and conditions of your loans and don’t go for offers that seem too good to be true!

If you believe that your finances have really gone down the drain, try to make use of a reliable non-profit credit counseling agency that can give you advice and negotiate with your creditors on your behalf.

If you have other expensive debts to pay then what you can do is to refinance your home mortgage loan and use the additional cash you can borrow to pay these expensive debts off. You can even consider taking out a home equity line of credit or a fixed rate home equity loan. The pros and cons of this option are listed below.

1). It is possible to have the interest on home loans deducted while that is not possible with credit card debts.

2). You can save more money by shopping carefully and getting a good deal on closing costs and interest rates.

3). Typical credit card bills have double digit interest rates, and you can lower them just by switching debts to a home equity loan.

1). Extending the length of time you’ll be in debt could mean that you are paying more money over the long run.

2). A variable loan rate means that if your interest rate could go down, it could also go up as well, so be prepared.

3). Knowing that you are capable of stopping your habit of over-spending and are capable of paying off the debts is extremely important as well, so if you can't control spending, a loan won't help much.

(My additional "con": If you can't make your payments you risk losing your house, so consider this option carefully!)

Another crucial tip is that the money you get from refinancing or from tax refunds should be used to create an emergency fund, the basic purpose of which will be to use as a prepayment against your home loan or to boost your retirement savings. Or in case of a financial emergency such as an unexpected car repair.

A great option that credit card holders have is that they can consolidate their debts by calling their credit card issuers and asking them to give you a better deal. These lenders do know that getting consumers who pay their bills on time is pretty tough and they are often willing to oblige you. Don’t forget to ask them about getting an annual fee waived or lowering the interest rate on new purchases or getting special rates on any new balances you transfer to their cards.

For your lender to give you assistance, it is imperative to be making all payments of your bills regularly in order to establish a reputation of reliability. Another important tip is to plow all of your savings back into your debts and save your credit card score by avoiding applying for too many cards at the same time.

This is a guest post by Richard Jacobs, who has been a chief editor since early 2007, and he currently works for MyDUIattorney. A website that helps you to find the right DUI lawyer. You can search for a New Jersey DUI Attorney or for a Los Angeles DUI Lawyer online, anytime!