Debt worry can drive a person insane.
If you or someone you know is suffering the crushing weight of too much credit card or other type debt, realize there are measures you can take to eliminate it.
While none of them are going to be easy, in the long run you will be better off by getting rid of a huge pile of debt.
Probably the easiest thing you can do is to tap the equity in your home.
This may not be feasible with the slumping housing market, but if you have been up to date with your mortgage payments and haven't borrowed against the equity already, you may be ok.
Trouble a lot of people get into with this scheme is that they take out the loan, pay off the cards, and then run the credit cards back up to their limit.
Now they are saddled with both credit card debt and the home equity loan.
Another strategy that deserves a look is the debt rollup.
Here you simply add an extra lump sum to your lowest balance card minimum payment each month until paid off.
Then take that entire monthly amount and add it to the next card.
Continue in that fashion until all cards are paid in full.
Takes a lot of discipline, but it is proven to work.
Finally, debt settlement may be the most flexible because all you are doing is saving a lump sum to pay a creditor a settled upon amount.
Usually settlements come in at about 50% or so of the total you owe.
Settling requires some skill at negotiation and patience, but you can walk away paying only half of what you owe.
It bears some investigation.
All these strategies can be done by yourself or with the help of a third party debt company.
It just depends on how much you are willing to spend to rid yourself of your debt worry.