#3. How do I determine if I have a serious debt problem?

People with serious debt problems often panic and move too fast to solve a problem that has been with them for years. They’ll quickly pay off the wrong kinds of debt without assessing their entire financial situation. In most cases, short-term fixes won’t make their debt problems disappear. To determine if you have a problem, check the following warning signs. If three or more signs apply, you may have a serious debt problem.

1. Always juggling payments or stalling one creditor to pay another and consistently receiving past due notices on your bills.
2. Failing to save a consistent amount of money each month. You’re unable to save at least 5 percent of your paycheck each payday.
3. Charging more each month than you make in debt payments and having more than five credit cards.