My name is Seth Ferris from Denver, CO, and I want to share a quick story about how I used two free personal debt programs, which allowed me to quickly get out of debt and control my finances. This strategy allowed me to slash my bills and half without paying for professional help and without hurting my credit.

For the first time in years I was out of the red — just in time for my new baby girl.

I started racking up debt when I entered college 12 years ago. Little by little I used those plastic cards to help pay for books, food and entertainment. But using these cards didn’t stop with college. I’ve used them pretty irresponsibly to pay for just about everything I own. I knew eventually I would have to face reality, but every day that I continued to ignore my debt problem things just continued to get worse.

Next thing you know I’m $50,000 in debt, and it was no longer just my problem. Two years I got married to my wife, Allison, and now we have a baby girl. It was time for me to put the future of my family first and take care of this problem once and for all.

That’s when I used the advice of my cousin, who had recently gone through this exact same process in order to eliminate his credit card debt…

Step 1: Get Your Credit Report and Score (Free)

This first step is critical because the information on your credit report directly affects your score. Unfortunately, the information on your personal file is not always accurate. First, by getting this information online you’ll see what your current score is, then you see all the mistakes on your credit file and notify the reporting agencies. Doing that alone could instantly increase your score, which will allow you to lower your debt. I was able to raise my rating almost 100 points, which I then used to reduce my credit card bills and car payment.

Step 2: Get a Debt Assessment (Also Free)

A debt assessment will instantly show if you qualify for a settlement. This will allow you to do two things… lump all of your bills into one payment and cut your bills in half. Just enter your information and how much debt you currently have, and the website will show the options available to you. In my case I had about $30,000 in credit card debt and after settlement I only owed $16,000.

Just like that, I was given the resources that allowed almost half my debt to be forgiven!

I’m still in the process of paying my debt off, but without following these two simple steps I would never be able to do it alone. I calculated that at the rate I was going it would have taken me 23 years to pay off my bills. Now I’ll be completely debt free in less than a year, and it didn’t cost me a dime by following these two steps. And my credit score is increasing day-by-day as I get closer to paying off my bills.

The one thing that scared me to death was the idea of losing my job and having all of this bad debt hanging over my head, which was what got me to take action. I was considering bankruptcy, but knew that there had to be a better option. With the new addition to my family, the last thing I wanted to do is put my entire financial future at risk.

Here are the links again…

• Step 1: Get Your Credit Report and Score (Free)
• Step 2: Get a Debt Assessment (Also Free)

These 2 simple steps helped me slash my debt, and I’m sure it can do the same for you withouth having to pay a debt counselor.