Post recession, many Americans found themselves barely keeping their heads above overwhelming debt they had incurred through various ways.

The most common way of incurring unmanageable debt was through excessive use of credit cards. But this is, by no means, the only danger area. There are many ways in which you can let yourself become exposed to a debt trap. Here are a few tips on staying clear of debt:

Build an emergency fund

Many people, who are otherwise conservative spenders, end up with enormous debt when emergencies catch them completely unprepared. It might be a home repair or a medical emergency that forces you to take a loan.

No matter what the underlying cause, when the emergency is upon you, you do not have the time or the clarity of thought to search for competitively priced loans. You simply opt for the easiest to get, fastest to process or simplest to understand loan. Unfortunately, it is these loans that are often also the worst.
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