If you have been experiencing unemployment, lack of job opportunity, home foreclosure and overwhelming credit card debt you are like a million other Americans out there. This can be an unsettling and stressful time for most people. One of the most important things to relieve the stressful burdens is to figure out what you should do next.

If your facing foreclosure, there is a time to just ask yourself when to give up the fight and just accept that you going to lose your home. In a way this can be a relief; you can give up all the worrying and stresses and put your energy into a new opportunity. By selling your home, using a short sale, or getting a deed in lieu, you can give up your home, with out the foreclosure going on your credit record. These options are very important to consider when you've run out of other options.

Before completely giving up on your home, be sure that you know and have explored all your options for saving it first. The below list, are options to help you avoid foreclosure, go through it and check off the ones you have done.

? Have you spoken to an attorney specializing in foreclosures?

? Have you spoken to a HUD approved housing counselor?

? Have you had a meeting with your financial lender and told them about your financial situation?

If you are a homeowner and have missed a few of your mortgage payments, it should come at no surprise to you that you are in the pre-foreclosure stages. If you are still in this stage of foreclosure, you can still put energy forth to saving your home. If it has been several months since you have made a payment to the lender and you don't have any money saved, then you should expect to be foreclosed on and realize that there is most likely no time left to save it.

If you are only faced with temporary financial problems, go to your lender immediately after missing one payment. If you bring them proof that you can get caught back up on the payments and your money problems are only temporary, they will try to help you.

Also if you a really want to save your home talking to a specialized foreclosure attorney can really help you. A local attorney can work with your bank and find out if there are any alternative options, you may have missed. Also you may want to speak to the attorney about possibly filing bankruptcy. In some states filing bankruptcy can help you delay or even avoid foreclosure all together.

The most important thing to keep in mind though is the timing. You have limited time to get the help you may need to save your home. If you delay and wait too long, it will be too late. Even if you could have received help, the foreclosure will already be in place and time will be up on any help you would have been able to get.

When the foreclosure proceedings have begun and your property is listed for sale at foreclosure auctions, you need to accept the fact that you're not going save your home. There is no reason to get upset or angry, this will be a waste of energy. Instead spend your time looking for a more affordable living situation. Start getting all your belongings in order and get ready to move out of your home. Talk to family members or even look at rental properties until you can find a more permanent solution.