To negate having to go into a debt relief plan do not get into debt in the first place. However for many the wisest method is the option of credit card debt settlement. When you enter into a credit card debt settlement program you are seeking to negotiate a one time payment to your credit card companies at a much reduced amount than what the balance currently is. The advantages of this are that when you obtain a debt settlement you will in turn be saving quite a bit of money, plus you will be out of debt pretty fast. Particularly when you understand how many years it will take to get out of debt through the credit card companies minimum payment scandal.