Do you need some debt relief? Don't despair, here are some tactics you can use to help yourself, starting now.

1 - Stop Using Credit Cards

The place to start is by locking away the credit cards and figuring out how to cut expenses back to function within your income. Work out how to make more income and pay only with cash. This is the one action that jump-starts your program to get out of debt. This step is critical to your program if you truly want to be debt free.

2 - Don't Obligate Your Company To Pay More Than It Is Making In Income

You commit your company's future production to the credit company when you pay for an item with a credit card. Then you experience economic slavery. Take a hard look at whether the item you are about to buy is really something that will increase your company's income, or whether it is just something you want at the moment. If you really need it to produce more income, figure out how to make the cash to pay for it over a short period of time, rather than buying on credit. Figure out ways to increase the income your company is making and use the cash to pay off the debt while also paying operating expenses.

3 - Never Pay Just The Minimum Payment Amount Required

To be really effective, your program should include using 10% to 15% of the business' weekly income to pay against the debt. Establish a goal of paying 3 to 5 times what the minimum payment is on every credit card. Put aside a portion of the payment money every week before the statements arrive at your office. It is less difficult to set aside a smaller amount over 4 weeks than to find enough to pay a big bill all at once.

Use the tactic of paying more on the highest interest rate card in your debt reduction program. Another effective tactic is to pay off low balance cards as quickly as you can. After paying those lower balance cards off, you free up more cash to use on the high interest rate cards.

4 - Do Not Spend Over The Card Limit Or Make A Payment Late

Never sabotage your debt reduction program by getting hit with $25 to $39 over-the-limit or late fees plus the interest on those fees. In addition, if you pay over 30 days late, your credit record carries that big black mark against you for 7 years - a whopper of a penalty.

In a news report, a Vice President of a U.S. bank recently said that in excess of 24 Billion dollars was paid last year in fees for interest, late charges and over-limit charges. I hope you don't think the credit company minds too much if you go over your spending limit or mail your payment late. They collected billions because of it.

5 - Reduce Your Expenses

A requirement of a debt reduction program is more cash as fast as possible to pay the debt off. Evaluate how your company's income is being used and reduce all unnecessary expenses that do not contribute to increasing the income. Before you spend, figure out how much money that item is going to return to your business.

TIP: Always keep promoting your your business' products and services to everyone - never stop promotion activities. Just make sure your promotional spending is bringing more money back in than what was spent.

Managing a company's income correctly to ensure its survivalguarantee it will survive takes more than a program to reduce debt, but this is a really good place to start. There are other strategies that can be worked out to increase the business' income, pay bills when they are due, have cash reserves for emergencies, increase profitability and pay yourself more money. Who doesn't want that, right?

Sandra Simmons, President of Money Management Solutions, has years of experience helping professionals and individuals manage their income to become debt free. To find out about the Money Management Software she created, visit her website and watch the FREE 5-minute demo video at www.MoneyMgmtSolutions.com