I am doing the same thing, and what I did is I made a file and put a piece of recent mail from each debtor in its own slot so that way I would know how much I owe, and I could get rid of the mail I had been holding on to.

Planning is good. However, I would not let the lack of a complete plan stop me from starting good habits. For example, stop using charge cards. If you need to buy something, use cash. If you don't have the cash, don't buy it. It's rough but it is a start.

You can make a servicable plan in a few hours, however, so there's no reason to not get to it immediately.

Check out what some of the experts we've interviewed would say about that. Listen to the Change Nation interview with Brent Kessel or read what David Bach has to say.

Link

Sorry, that should say "It contains a fantastic plan for not only getting out of debt but the steps to take to ensure it doesn't happen again."

Shanekins, y es, this is your first step, you need to be aware of where you stand financially - what your balances are, interest rates, minimum payments. I recommend buying (or borrowing from the library) the book Debt Proof Living by Mary Hunt. It contains a fantastic plan for not going getting out of debt but the steps to take to ensure it doesn't happen again.