Credit card debt services can be as simple or as complex as you want. The simpler the better though. To begin with you have to ask yourself how you got into this mess. Did you get into credit card debt as a result of a breakdown in a relationship? Did health problems cause your debt? Or was it simply a case of good old fashioned overspending? I suppose at this point you're thinking that it doesn't really matter too much, that debt is simply debt. Not true.

One of the key rules of debt management is that 'all debt is not created equal'. What does this mean? What this means is that it is very important to know how your debt came about.

If your debt is caused mainly by a breakdown in a relationship then you will use a slightly different strategy than if you debt was caused purely by overspending. Even if your debt was caused by overspending it is important to know where your money was spent. If it was all spent on expensive cars you will adopt one strategy but if it was all spent on holidays then you will use another strategy.

If you are like most people the chances are your debt occurs from overspending. Your spending will probably not have been limited to just one item but rather spread across multiple items.

Debt caused by relationship breakdown or health problems is usually easier to solve than that caused by overspending. The reason is simple. For the people whose break-up caused their debt then there may not be much behavioural and habit changes needed. These people will just need to re-establish themselves and get back on their feet. Once they are back on their feet emotionally then it will be more straightforward for them to repay their debts.

The point is that people whose debt is caused by overspending have a greater uphill struggle against their debts as the temptation to overspend is everywhere. These people may have a greater need for credit card debt services whereas people getting over a broken relationship or health problems have their minds too busy to worry about spending money.

Every situation is unique and it is possible that your debt could have arisen from a number of different causes. I've heard stories where a relationship broke down as a result of one partners overspending. In turn the breakdown of the relationship was stressful and had a negative impact on the person's health. So what you had was a combination of all three the main causes of debt playing a role.

So why is this important?

Deciding the main cause of your debt is important. This will determine how you tackle it. For some the change in current lifestyle may be small. They may already have a relatively frugal existence and were just unfortunate to have had some bad luck. For someone who is a chronic over spender then the change in lifestyle required to repay your debts may be more severe.

Equipped with the knowledge of what caused your debt you can devise a strategy that will suit your lifestyle best. The best credit card debt services are those that take into consideration all aspects of your current lifestyle and how hard it may be for you to change some things.

Debt management plans need to be realistic. There is no 'one size fits all' plan out there and people need to realize that to give themselves the best chance of succeeding they need to look at their whole lifestyle and to develop a debt management plan that is ambitious but not unrealistic.