The nonprofit National Endowment for Financial Education, based in Englewood, Colo., offers these tips to help people get out of debt – and stay that way:

Write it down. Make a list of how much money you owe to each creditor and the interest rate.

Start the snowball rolling. Pick the debt with the highest interest rate and put extra cash toward that balance. Once it’s paid off, put that extra cash toward the balance with the next highest rate.

Cut it out. Select a discretionary activity, such as dining out or clothes shopping, and stop it for a month or two. Put the savings toward your debt.

Don’t forget to save. Start saving, even if it’s a small amount every week, to build cash reserves. In the future, you can tap your savings rather than your credit card.

The endowment has more tips and a debt recovery worksheet on its consumer education site, www.smartaboutmoney.org.