Dave Ramsay has an excellent way for people to get out of debt. He calls it the 7 Baby Steps:

1) Start by making sure you have $1,000 in an Emergency Fund
2) Pay off debt using the debt snowball
3) Save 3-6 months of expenses
4) Invest 15% of pre-tax dollars in a Roth IRA
5) For those of you with kids begin a college retirement account
6) Payoff your home early
7) Build wealth through real estate and mutual funds