Do you want to avoid a debt crisis from taking over life?  If you are in debt but realizing that it’s getting the best of you and that you need to do something about it before things get really bad, this article is for you.  In this article I’m going to be covering three preventive things you can do to stop the evil debt cycle from taking over your life.

The first thing you need to do is stay away from credit cards.  A recent report showed that Americans who used credit cards spend an on average 20% more than they should.  This issue has cause countless thousands if not millions of families to have out of control spending issues.

So what’s the solution you might ask?  Stick with a pre approved credit card instead of traditional credit cards.  These cards have to be preloaded with cash in order to be used.  By doing this you still get the same great feeling of using a credit cards but with a limit to prevent you from overspending.

The next debt management tip is a very easy one but also one that many do not follow, creating a budget.  When the word budget comes to mind many people just don’t have serous interest, and that’s the problem with creating a budget.  Most people just don’t want to create a budget because it can be to time consuming and tedious.

Instead sign up with Mint.com.  The great thing about Mint other than the fact that it’s free is that it can automate your budget process for you.  In fact all you have to do is sign up, link your accounts, and specify your budget and that’s it.  In fact you can even receive updates via email if you have a low account balance or if your going over you budget limit.

Third and finally,  the last thing that you do is save diligently.  However the problem with most people is that they save money but end up spending it when they need it.  This gets amplified when you combine several credit cards full of debt, a car loan, and a home mortgage.

Instead setup a separate account that is not easily accessible.  A couple of places to do this is either a certificate of deposit at a bank, a savings account at another bank that you don’t usually don’t  go to, or an online savings account such as ING Direct.  Once your account is setup start saving even if it’s only $10 a week.