If you're filing bankruptcy, you will likely want to hire an attorney. But for debt settlement, a company is sufficient, or as I said, you can often do the legwork on your own.

Sometimes a creditor is willingto do this as a bargaining point - you give the creditor cash in hand, it gives you a positive listing on your credit report - even though you haven't paid the full amount. Get this agreement in writing.

Turn down offers for new cards or credit line increases on your current cards. Credit's tight, and chances are, you're not getting many offers anyway. But if you do, remember that the less credit you have available, the less trouble you can get into.

Unless you have multiple accounts that you need to negotiate and you think the project is just too big to tackle on your own, you're better off just calling your creditors directly.

A little personality goes a long way.

You won't be caught off guard and you won't feel guilty, because you'll be spending money that you've allocated for the occasion.

One thing I want to make clear: You never want to hide from your debts. It doesn't work.