Strange title for an article on debt, you might think, but what Im doing here is throwing out a rubber ring into the sea of debt. Its not going to rescue you and take you back to dry land. What it is going to do is give you something to hang on to while you get your bearings and hopefully, having done that, you can start swimming in the right direction.

OK, enough analogies for now, lets look at the problem. This is the first most important step of solving your debt problems, realising that you both have a problem and that you need to do something about it.

First things first, all those bills and receipts that youve been shoving down the back of the sofa for months, youre going to need to dig them out. Were also going to need a bank statement so get hold of one of them. The only other things we need are a blank piece of paper, a pencil and your brain.

OK, still with me? Good, draw a line down the middle of the paper and on the left hand side write down all the money thats going out every month. This isnt just bills and mortgage payments, this is ALL the money so include shopping bills, money for cigarettes if you smoke, beer money, etc. etc. As much as you can think of that you spend in a month.

Now, on the right hand side of the paper write down all the money thats coming in each month. This will probably be a much shorter list and will include wages if youre working, any benefits you might receive, etc. etc.

The next thing we need to do is add up the two columns. If the number on the left hand side of the paper is higher than the number on the right, your debt problems are only getting worse at the moment. If the number on the right is higher, solving your problems should be much easier.

Whichever result you got, just the simple task of writing down all this information will show you a true picture of your immediate financial situation and should help you to realise where all the moneys going.

If the column on the left is the higher value youre going to need to start working down that list and seeing where any savings can be made to get the total down below the other side, or look at the other side and see how you might get the total up, although this is significantly harder.

Remember selling things is only going to give a short term boost to your finances, if without the sale the column on the left is still greater that the right, your debt problems will only return again later so dont think that selling things will solve all your problems.

So, look at the numbers and make a few plans about how you might approach the task for the next month. Dont look beyond that right now; the most important thing here is that you start swimming. Whether the shore is 100 feet or ten miles away is nowhere near as important as starting to swim right now.

For the next month, make a note of all your expenses going out, right down to the last penny where practical. This will do two things. It will help you realise where the money is going as you spend it and it will also give you a much more accurate assessment of your finances when you sit down and repeat this exercise again next month.

Thats right; you need to do this every month until the columns are working the right way round and continue doing it as you slowly swim closer and closer to shore.