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Note: This is a guest post from Ana of Debt FREE Revolution, who is gladly pinch-hitting for me while I still battle the flu bug. Thanks Ana!!

Right now is the second best time to get out of debt here in America. All you need to do is turn on the news or read a newspaper or catch the headlines at your news site of choice to see that Americans have a big problem with increasing debt loads and decreasing savings. That doesn’t even count the broader economic picture of the mortgage mess (no longer confined to Subprime), the stock markets looking like a basketball being dribbled down the court, and the supposedly non-inflationary cost of food and gasoline going up by the day (at least it feels like a daily price hike when feeding a teenage boy!).

Everyone and their brother (and sister, and cousin…) are instant economic experts in times like these, so I figured I would jump on that bandwagon myself. LOL Popular Internet articles have titles similar to "How to Survive a Recession" and "Recession-Proof Your Life Now" and some contain decent advice, but most shy away from the number one thing you can do to protect yourself from ANY kind of adverse economic trend: Get completely out of consumer debt! Not just reduce your debt. Not just figure out a way to juggle payments or consolidate your debt. Get out of debt (COMPLETELY) and STAY out of debt! (Hey, it’s my blog’s motto and I’m rather fond of saying that…)

OK, so if right now is the second-best time to get out of debt … when was THE best time to do it? Umm, about a year or two ago. But until we can get our hands on that time machine to go back and start then, now will have to do. The sooner you start, the better off you’ll be. I personally recommend using the Dave Ramsey "Baby Steps" plan to accomplish this, since I am on it myself and just recently paid off all my debt except for the mortgage. For the record, the mortgage will get its day to die as well

I may fuss about food and gas prices going up, but it isn’t hurting me like it is hitting some folks. In fact, our household income just took an $813 per month hit for the next four months, yet it isn’t a crisis. It’s an inconvenience, and yes I fuss about it slowing down my goals … but we will survive it just fine. That right there has to be the best argument for getting out of debt: it’s a whole lot easier to pay your monthly bills when there just aren’t that many of them!