Now this might seem very obvious and when you ask most people they would probably say that they know how much money they owe but more often than not it comes as a great surprise to them when they sit down with a pen and paper to work out exactly what the current debt actually is.

It is very difficult to remember precisely how much you owe on so many different areas of debt and it is only when you do take account of all the individual debts and add them up that you can actually see the extent of your debt.

Be prepared for a surprise because that is what happens most often and it will give you a really good picture of why you are struggling to make ends meet each week and why all the income that might seem reasonable isn't enough to cover your outgoings.

So step number one on your debt management program is to address the situation.

It is only after you have done this that you will be able to create a budget that will help you move towards eliminating debt from your life.

You will be able to compare your monthly spending to your monthly income and that will give you the opportunity to see how much is left over if any to start reducing your debt.

When you are making a note of your debt you must ensure that you put down everything that you owe even the most minor of debts because at some stage they need to be settled and even small debts that are left unpaid can give you a bad credit rating.