If you're stressed over the amount of debt you that you've incurred, you can call your credit card company to ask for a lower interest rate. But, there are certain conditions that you must meet before they'll consider cutting you such a break. First, your payment record with them must be good; and second, your payment record with other creditors must show responsibility as well. Remember, they can check your credit report to determine how you've paid.

However, in some cases an interest-rate reduction may not be enough to relieve the financial pressure that you're feeling. If you fall behind in your payments, you may actually be able to strike a deal with the credit card company after a period of 90 days of non-payment. There are two reasons why a credit card company would prefer to settle with you. First, if you have no other assets, a lawsuit against you would ultimately prove fruitless; and second, you've convinced them that their acceptance of some amount of payment from you would be better for them than not getting anything at all.

Statistics have shown that in recent years, most credit card companies are not willing to settle for less than 80 percent of the total amount due. However, with the sub-prime mortgage crisis and banks becoming more reluctant to give credit, some have been more willing to settle for half of the total debt.

If you are heavily in debt and decide to try to negotiate with a creditor, it's vitally important to keep a log of all your communications, including the name of the person you spoke to, the date, the time, and the nature of conversation. Once an agreement is reached, your report may simply show the word "Settled," and that's really not good. It's a 'code' word that let's other creditors know that your account has been paid, but not according to the original contract. Please note that this method of settlement should only be utilized in cases where you have no other alternative. Keep in mind that your credit rating will suffer and it may take a few years for you to bounce back from it.

If you are heavily in debt, do what you can do pay off as much as of the debt as possible. There are a number of strategies that you can use to lower the overall amount that you owe. However, if worse comes to worst and you have no other means at your disposal to pay off your debt, be courteous and honest with the credit representatives. Be proactive; contact them and explain your situation, and then make some type of an offer first. They'll either agree or make a counteroffer, and you can proceed from there.

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