One can find lots of debt reduction measures for unsecured credit card debts without going to the extent of filing for bankruptcy. Actually, the worsening state of the economy has mellowed financial institutions and credit card companies down that many of them are willing to go for debt settlement.

Instead of moping around, refusing calls from collecting agents, or burying yourself amid heaps of unpaid credit card bills, start looking for debt management strategies. In the course of looking for a debt relief, you must have a clear picture of your financial status. Try to lay everything on paper – the companies you owe, the total amount you need to pay, the interest rates you are charged with and so on. Doing this enables you to see just how bad your financial situation is.

Without a doubt you want a strategy that would get you out of debt without threatening your credit rating, and debt settlement and debt consolidation are two time-tested strategies that very well fit the bill, so to speak.

If your debts have ballooned to more than $10k, a debt settlement program would prove to be very suitable. There are debt settlement companies that are willing to work with you and your creditors so that you can reach an agreement that would work to your advantage but not at the expense of your creditor.

With debt consolidation, you get to have all your unsecured debts bundled up into one loan, with or without security. For a no-security debt consolidation, you only need to search for a credit card company that offers 0% interest balance transfer services and then have your other credit card debts migrated to this account. An alternative is to apply for a debt consolidation loan with a consolidating agency, but then this one requires collateral in the form of a real property.