Debt can almost seem like an addiction. It's as if once you start, you can't stop using your credit cards to buy everything from a new couch for your living room to the weekly groceries and the night out on the town. The debt crisis gets to be so bad because you feel like you must have these items, but you don't have the cash to pay for them. So out comes the credit cards. Then next thing you know, the little cash you do have goes to paying off your minimum monthly payments on your cards, and so you have to use your credit to buy even more stuff to survive.


The key to breaking this debt cycle and to escape high credit card debt is to view the problem as just that—an addiction. You need to think of your debt problem as one that you may need to quit "cold turkey." Or if you say, "I don't have that bad a problem." Then at least you have to learn to get your debt under control and use it in only responsible ways.


The first thing you can consider is your paycheck. Do you live the proverbial American dream—living paycheck to paycheck? Basically, that's what our culture leads us to do. We have to keep buying gadgets, a bigger house, a nicer car, all to keep up with the Joneses next door. That is a one-way ticket to high debt. So instead, look at your paycheck as your financial ceiling. It may seem hard to do, but in truth, that's how all people should view it.


Not only should you not spend over this ceiling. You should spend under it. Don't faint. People actually live this way, so it's not impossible. That extra money you save every paycheck can then go to paying down your debt. The more serious you are about escaping the debt cycle, the more money you will save from your paycheck to pay down debt.


Amazingly, do this for a time, and you will actually escape from under your high debt. It's that easy. OK, maybe it's not easy. But it is simple math. Then, once you pay down your debt, you can raise the bar on your spending, right? Wrong. The next step is to save your spare cash for that proverbial rainy day. Then you can actually start to buy your gadgets again—after you save up enough cash to buy them clean.

Joshua Shapiro recommends Find Credit Cards to find an Advanta credit card that's tailored to suit your financial needs.