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Every family’s financial circumstances are different, but debt is something that many Americans have in common. The problem is not necessarily having debt, but not being able to pay it off. Worse yet, some people find themselves getting deeper into debt. While the 2005 Cambridge Consumer Credit Index shows that 25 percent of Americans consider paying off debt a top priority, a 2004 survey conducted by LendingTree found that more than half of those concerned about owing high debts had no definite financial plan for eliminating those debts.

According to the University of Illinois’ Consumer and Family Economics educator Pat Hildebrand, paying the minimum payment for $2,500 of credit card debt with 21 percent interest will cost you nearly $15,000 and take 63 years to pay off. However, with so many debt consolidation loans and debt repair services out there, it can be a real challenge to figure out what the best way to get out of debt may be. This snowball method offers fast results and works on the same principles the debt repair services use, minus the big start-up fees.