Read any article, follow any pundit, or listen to any news story about personal finance and you will hear the same message again and again: In today’s economy the first thing any individual must do is get out of debt. If you are in debt, you may be feeling frightened, furious, frustrated or bewildered. Or, you may be feeling all of these things. There is a way out of debt. It can be done, and you can do it. You can be debt free for life.Debt is imprisoning. It feels like the money you work to earn is not yours. Anyone with $17,000 debt at a 21% interest rate (not an unlikely percentage for credit cards) may pay $300 a month for 23 years. Families who owe $30,000 in debt at 21% interest can pay a minimum of $600 per month for 10 years and shell out a total of $41,917 in interest.We can create numbers like the gold for cash se all day long. The simple truth is that this hurts. This puts an enormous strain on families. That is $600 that could be paying for necessities, clothing, vacations, or going into savings of any kind ? college savings, emergency funds, or retirement savings.The average mortgage debt in the country is $49,000 per family. Of course, this is not really how it is divided. The twelve trillion dollar consumer mortgage debt in America is carried differently ? some families owe $50,000, some owe $200,000 or more. A mortgage debt is a secured debt. This means that there is tangible collateral behind the debt. That is something that a creditor could take if payments cannot be made — namely, your home. That is happening to many families right now.Imagine the freedom of being debt free and having your money be yours.