t's a widely known that we as a society and as individuals are in more debt than ever before. For most people, it's like living in quick sand; it doesn't matter how hard you try, you just seem to get deeper and deeper. Debt, more than any other single topic, is a leading cause of divorce and domestic issues.

While there are many factors that contribute to our debt levels, the intent of this article is to give you a simple process to pro actively get out of debt, systematically, over a period of time, so that you can regain control of your life and eliminate the stresses caused by your debt load. (Please note that there are more aggressive programs than this, and if you are interested, just let me know).

With this simple process you will eliminate all your debt in just a few short years, including your mortgage. It starts with a very simple declaration:

I am no longer going to live my life by default! I am taking control of my life and my debt, rather than letting my debt control me and my life.

You see, your debt is your debt, whatever the reason or excuse; it is your debt, so it is up to you to get rid of it. Be grateful that it was there, but now you focus on gaining a life of abundance and your life will be better for it. PERIOD!

The steps are very simple.

1. Make a list of all your debts, including your mortgage, with the lowest balance at the top. List what the debt is, amount owed, balance, rate, and monthly payment.

2. Look at your monthly income and see if there is amount, even a small amount that can be contributed to the payoff of you debt, even $20 monthly will make a huge difference over time; if there is nothing, don't worry about it, just move to step 3.

3. Your first focus is to eliminate your smallest balance first. This should be the first debt listed above. Make the minimum payments to the other debts, and put all the extra money toward this balance.

4. Once you have paid off your first debt, you can now put the money toward the second debt on your list. Say you were paying $40 monthly toward your first debt, now you add that $40 to the payment for the second debt on your list; you can see that debt will now be paid off much quicker. Getting the picture?

5. Repeat the process for the third debt. Example: You gained $40 from the first debt and $50 from the second debt totaling $90 Now, add this $90 to accelerating the payoff of the third debt. See how quickly and simply this works to elimination of your debt?

6. Keep up the process, including your mortgage and your debts are flying out of your life. No longer is the anchor called debt holding you back?you are flying.

So, now guess what happens, you have just eliminated your debts and now you have all this freed up money each month, so now what do you do?..SAVE IT!!! In another article I will talk about controlling your savings and what to do with the extra money.

Quick Tip: Impulse buying is a huge cause in credit card abuse. So, try this. Put your credit cards in a bowl of water and freeze it. When you want to buy something, you must first go home and wait for the bowl of water to melt; giving yourself a ?cooling off? period, so to speak. Now, is the purchase still so important?