Debt is one of our most universally felt problems. Almost everyone has been in debt at some point. Debt can feel oppressive, frustrating and debilitating, but quite often it isn't as bad as it seems. The key to getting out of debt is action. You can't bury your head in sand. Take control of your problem. If you let debt rule your life, you'll never get anywhere, and you can be sure that you'll never get that business off ground. Here are a few tips which might help.

First, Budget. I can't stress how important this is. If you don't know how much money you have and where it's gone too, you'll never see light at end of tunnel. Keep meticulous records, and eliminate every wasteful expenditure you can. This may sound difficult, but it is a must, and it gets easier as you get used to doing it.

Second, Aggressively pay off your credit cards. Credit cards can be a huge drain on your income simply because of interest. Most card payment plans are set up so that your minimum payment is only slightly larger than your monthly finance charge. If you stick to minimum you will end up paying thousands in interest, a few dollars at a time. You've got to pay as much per month as you possibly can. Send double and triple payments whenever possible, and always give most to card with highest interest rate.

John Ray, famous 17th century author, was known to have written aphorism, "Money begets money." In business world, I'm sure you've also heard saying, "You've got to have money to make money."

There are countless sources of cash, but by far, best one to utilize for your business is ... other people's money.

Perhaps one of greatest "secrets" of richest people in world is summed up in those 3 words: Other People's Money - OPM for short. If you took a cross-section of most affluent business people, you'll find that majority of them launched their fortunes using OPM. In next few minutes, I will show you how you can obtain other people's money for your business. What you do with money, however, is up to you - but if I were you, I'd take P.T. Barnum's advice, and make money your servant so that you, too, you can make your own fortune.

The use of other people's money has become such an ethical and acceptable mainstay in business because one can leverage other people's money to your benefit.

For example, you can leverage borrowed money into high-yield investment programs that could generate a return that would then pay back your lender and line your pockets as well. Or you can leverage borrowed money into asset-producing or income-generating real property. Or you can simply borrow money to start or grow your business.

The benefits to using OPM are obvious: 1) When you use other people's money, especially within parameters of a corporation, your debt is assigned to your business, and your debtors can make no claims against your personal finances; and 2) infusion of cash allows you to have money to make money for your business.

Of course, even with proliferation of lending institutions and venture capitalists, it is often difficult to obtain other people's money.

Well, since Wall Street Journal has kindly called me a man who "finds answers in unlikely places," I'm going to reveal an unlikely place where you can obtain other people's money. This one is available to all, and yet very few ever take advantage of it. It's federal government.