You'll get much better results by being upfront, answering creditors calls, and responding to their letters. Delaying the inevitable only digs a deeper hole.

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.

Pay cash. For some reason, it's harder for people psychologically to part with their cash than it is to swipe a card. Maybe it's the act of physically seeing the money change hands, or maybe it's because you don't want to break a $20 for a $2 cup of coffee.

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.

By definition, saving - for anything - requires us to not get things now so that we can get bigger ones later.

If you are able to settle, you'll be getting off rather easy. Debt settlement companies can sometimes get you off the hook for a large percentage of your debt - in many cases, up to 50% will be written off.

Rolling all of your debts into a single loan is a good idea - in theory. In fact, it can be a great idea.