What to know before choosing a debt relief strategy

Sponsored MoneyWatch: Managing Your Money What to know before choosing a debt relief strategy We may receive commissions from some links to products on this page. Promotions are subject to availability and retailer terms. .chip { background-image: url('/fly/bundles/cbsnewscore/images/chip-bgd/chip-bgd-moneywatch.jpg'); } By Angelica Leicht Angelica Leicht Senior Editor, Managing Your Money Angelica Leicht is the senior editor for the Managing Your Money section for CBSNews.com, where she writes and edits articles on a range of personal finance topics. Angelica previously held editing roles at The Simple Dollar, Interest, HousingWire and other financial publications. Read Full Bio Angelica Leicht May 26, 2026 / 3:06 PM EDT / CBS News Add CBS News on Google There are many debt relief options to consider, but you should weigh a few factors before choosing a route. BangWan/Abu Hanifah/Getty Images As rising inflation continues to drive up costs and strain household budgets, many borrowers are finding it harder to keep up with their debt payments, particularly when it comes to their high-rate credit card debt. A major part of the issue right now is that credit card rates are elevated, averaging about 22%, which is causing interest charges to rack up quickly for those carrying revolving balances. Add in the rising costs of everyday essentials and there's a lot less room for borrowers to fit both their debt payments and regular expenses into the budget. That's why so many borrowers are weighing their debt relief options right now. And, the promise of debt relief does sound promisingly simple: You pay less, get out of debt faster and move on with your life. But the mechanics behind it are often anything but. After all, the debt relief landscape is vast, varied and it's unlikely that every option at hand will work in your favor. What makes the decision so difficult, though, isn't a shortage of debt relief options. It's an overabundance of them. So, how exactly do y...