Being in debt negatively impacts your life in so many ways. It limits your options, diminishes the quality of your life, and in many cases, induces stress as well as mental and emotional fatigue. If you’re looking for a way to get out of debt this year, here are five effective strategies. Put them into good use and see how well they work for you.

Know that You Aren’t Alone

You have plenty of resources out there to help you tackle your money problems. If you’re not quite sure where to go or what to do, don’t despair. Start looking for a financial consultant to help you. A consultation will help you explore all the solutions open to you. Assess each one carefully to find out which choice will work best for your situation.

Determine Where You Stand

Find out where you stand financially. Make sure you know what your net worth is. List down all your assets, your income, your sources. List down all of what you owe, too. Be thorough with that information. Note down the interest rate for each debt along with the payment methods and monthly deadlines. Once you have a good idea of what your finances are—you also need to know what your credit score is—you’ll have a better idea of which options are right for you.

Set Out Goals

Have goals. Before you start paying off your debts, think about what you want to achieve. Dreaming of being able to afford that down payment, trip or a new car might motivate you to work harder to clear your debt. Just make sure you think of your debt in manageable chunks. That will make it easier for you to work on eliminating each one.

Use the Right Approach

Once you’ve studied several methods of credit card debt reduction, decide which one works for you. Is it the snowball approach, where you knock down one debt after another by paying off the smallest ones first? You’ll end up paying the largest debt as your last. Or you could go pay off the costliest debt first, the one with the highest interest rate. That way, you can cut down on the amount of interest that you pay.

Consolidate Your Debt

One of the most popular ways to handle multiple credit card debts is through debt consolidation. You get a loan to pay off everything so that you only need to worry about paying once every month. You also get one interest rate, which is a relief. Monitoring multiple debts often means staying on top of a range of different interest rates. That takes a lot of time and energy. Paying for each one through different channels and on different dates also takes time away from your day. You can say goodbye to all that by consolidating your debt. If you don’t know-how, though, get professional help. Look for firms that offer financial advice. Some might even connect you with lawyers if you think you need legal assistance in fixing your financial problems.