It is possible to find real debt relief without falling for any scams? Although there are many companies out there who will take your money and claim to provide you with debt relief, it's usually best to manage it yourself. Let's face it. You are going to manage your money better than some big, faceless company who doesn't know you from anyone else.

My wife and I have managed to pay down over $10,000 in debt in under 2 years using a debt elimination system on our modest teaching salary. We didn't have to go with any debt management company because we decided that we could manage it better ourselves. We did it ourselves, and you can do the same. Here are the 3 steps that we took to find debt relief.

First, stop digging yourself deeper in debt. I know this is probably a hard pill to swallow but it's the truth - cut up the plastic. Every penny that you spend on interest is less that you're spending to actually get out of debt. Stop digging the hole deeper. My wife and I cut up all of our credit cards except one.

Second, live within your means. Make a budget and stick to it. Start using your debit card, instead of credit cards. Whenever you pay cash, it's cheaper in the long run. Every time we'd go to the mall the store would offer us a new credit card with 0% interest. We wouldn't take it. Why? The store knows that most people will not pay off their bill in full and eventually end up paying the interest. Otherwise why would they offer it?

Third, start paying off your existing debt. We started making a few changes in our monthly budget that added up to some big savings which we used to pay off our bills. For example, we started taking our lunch to work and shopped around for the best deals on products and services that we normally used.

When starting to pay off your debt, it's usually best to start with the one that has the smallest balance. That way, you can feel a sense of accomplishment faster. Then, after you have the first one paid off, you can start paying off the next one.

The key is to focus on one debt at a time. Many times people will pay a little here or there, but it doesn't work. You must totally concentrate your efforts on eliminating one debt only.

Also, don't worry about starting with the debt that has the highest interest rate. Why? What you're trying to do is get a "snowball effect" going. Once you have paid off the first debt, then you'll take that former minimum monthly payment and apply it to the second bill. Do this for all of your debts and you will find the debt relief you need.

This is the same debt elimination system that my wife and I have used. It's guaranteed to work every time. Another side benefit of payoff debt is that you'll automatically have extra money built in your budget for emergencies. For example, at one point we had over $200 a month that we were applying to pay off debt. One month, we had some unexpected expenses. So instead of applying that $200 towards debt, we used it to pay the unexpected medical bills instead of charging it. This works as long as you get back on track the next month to pay off debts.