If you are worried about how you are going to get out of debt, here are some first steps that you can take on your own to create a plan.

Begin by creating a budget. Your budget should keep track of all your finances and where the money is going. A budget is useful whether you are just trying to make ends meet, or if you have some extra income and want to work on meeting saving goals.

Making your budget should begin with gathering all your bills and your pay stubs. Make a note of all your typical expenses such as food, clothes, gym, gas, etc. Then subtract your bills and expenses from your pay stub. You can choose to set this up weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.

The creating of the budget alone may reveal to you some personal changes that you may need to do to your spending. The goal in doing this is to stop adding to your debt, and to pay down the existing debt that you can.

If you know that you are behind on your bills, don’t wait to call the creditors you owe money to. Do it before a debt collector gets involved. Tell your creditors what’s going on and try to work out a new payment plan with lower payments that you can manage.

How To Get Out of Debt | Consumer Advice (ftc.gov)