A while ago, the book “The Millionaire Next Door” was on the top of all the bestseller lists.

But if you’re deeply in debt, what can you learn from a millionaire? Plenty. Most people who became millionaires have sensible financial habits, which, if you follow them, can lead you out of debt and on your way to building a healthy financial future.

Among these habits that are shared by most people who have become millionaires:

NEVER go into debt because you worry about appearances or keeping up with the Joneses. Note: this doesn’t meant that personal appearance or grooming doesn’t matter, or that maintaining a decent standard of living doesn’t matter. It means that you should only pay for what you can afford, and you shouldn’t try to compete with others for appearances’ sake. You need a watch; you don’t need a Rolex. You need a car or truck; you don’t need a Hummer or a Merecedes Benz. You need to get regular haircults; you don’t need to visit the best salon in town.

Keep a budget and know where every penny goes.

Set specific, realistic goals and do whatever it takes to meet them. Pay your bills, then create categories for savings, for investing in a business if you have one, for special occasions, et cetera.

Buy quality used items rather than new.

Don’t be afraid to bargain, negotiate, and ask for what you really want. As they say “If you don’t ask, you don’t get”.

Millionaires are not generally the people driving the Hummer to their mortgaged McMansion, dripping with gold jewelry. Those people usually are living on credit and these days, on the verge of losing everything that they own. Millionaires plan, and save, and don’t live their lives to impress other people.

And if you start doing the same, you will much more quickly find your way out of debt, and on your own path to financial success.

Trying to get out of debt without a well thought out plan is like trying to find your way through a city that you’ve never been in before without a map.

There are certain steps that everyone must take if they want to get out of debt and stay out of debt.

First it’s important to get a true, accurate picture of your finances. You must figure out exactly how much you owe, what your minimum monthly payments are, and what your fixed monthly expenses are – including mortgage, electricity, car payments, transportation, rent, student loans, groceries, and any other necessities. Be sure to allow for clothing, entertainment, gifts – don’t be lavish, but don’t ignore that spending category completely.

Also allow for a little bit of savings. Even if you can only set aside $50 a month, it’s better than nothing and it gets you in the savings habit.

Then, figure out how much money you have coming in every month. There’s certainly a chance that you may owe more than you earn. If this is the case, you have two choices: find a way to earn more money, most likely by working a second job part-time for a while; or negotiate with your creditors to get lower monthly payments. It is possible that you may need to consult with a non-profit credit counseling agency. Make sure that they truly are a non-profit agency before you consult with them however.

Also make sure that you figure out how long it will take you to repay all of your debts and that there is an end in sight.  It will motivate you to actually repay your debts and to know the date that you will be debt free; this is one of the most important parts of your debt planning process.

Some debts can be erased by bankruptcy, or by negotiating a settlement if you truly are unable to pay the debts off.

Other debts do not go away no matter what.

If you owe money on state or federal taxes those can not be eliminated by bankruptcy and you have very little negotiating power. You do not want an IRS lien on your credit report, either. You certainly can work out a payment plan, but be aware that you will have to pay interest.

If you owe money for child support or spousal support, a bankruptcy filing will not discharge that.

If there is a judgment against you for an accident caused by drunken driving, bankruptcy will not discharge that.

If there is a judgment against you for willful and malicious acts it most likely will not be discharged by bankruptcy.

If it is determined that you lied or committed fraud to borrow money, that debt will likely not be discharged by bankruptcy.

Student loans can not be discharged by bankruptcy.

These are just some of the debts that can’t be erased by filing for bankruptcy, so it is important to consult with a qualified bankruptcy attorney who is familiar with bankruptcy laws before you consider bankruptcy as an option.

A couple of years ago, if you didn’t own a McMansion, a few investment properties, and a bunch of expensive toys financed by home equity loans, you were considered foolish.

Everyone was keeping up with the Joneses – using borrowed money. Keeping up with the Joneses is expensive, but nobody thought of saving for the future because there was always more money to be had with the eternally rising prices of homes – right?

Wrong. Meteoric rises come with meteoric falls.

The housing market crashed back down to Earth and suddenly, nobody has the ability to borrow against their home’s equity.

This isn’t necessarily such a bad thing. Many people before were living in a fool’s paradise, and now they are forced to create real world budgets for themselves, and live within those budgets.

It’s also now acceptable for people to pinch pennies. Gone is the pressure to live lavishly. Even luxury magazines like Vogue talk about saving money, on their cover blurbs.

The United States is starting to enter a depression era mentality again – which is not a bad thing, because most people are no longer mortgaging their future to buy unnecessary expensive toys that they can not afford.

These days credit counseling agencies are popping up everywhere offering relief to those who are deeply in debt – or are they?

The answer is, unfortunately – it depends.

There is a myth that visiting a credit counseling agency is automatically terrible for your credit and will send your credit score plummeting. According to FICO, the leading credit score company, they do NOT in any way factor in visits to a credit counseling agency when people figuring out credit scores.

Things they do take into account: late payments, missed payments, judgements, liens, and a high credit balance which is charged to the limit.

However, the fact that a consumer has visited a credit counseling agency will go on their credit reports, and some lenders might potentially view this as a negative.

Consider this, though – a person who is seeking credit counseling ALREADY has bad credit. If the person uses the credit counseling wisely, pays off their debts and starts making all of their payments on time – this will boost their credit score significantly and the minor matter of having sought credit counseling will not be viewed with disfavor.

Remember, though, to only seek non-profit credit counseling agencies; there are numerous scam agencies springing up these days. A good way to find a legitimate agency is to seek out agencies that are accredited by the National Foundation For Credit Counseling; search for it online and if you need a credit counseling agency, use one recommended by them.

New regulations on the credit card industry come with some relief for customers, but they do not solve all problems, by a long shot.

Under the new laws, they will not be able to raise interest rates on existing balances except under certain conditions; they will have to give 45 days advance notice before making signficant changes to account terms; and they will not be able to raise interest rates on customers accounts based on a customer’s late payment to other, non-related accounts.

So why won’t the new laws offer universal relief to credit card owners? Partly  because the credit card issuers are businesses and want to make the most money they can, and now that some of their predatory practices have been reined in, they will find new ways to make as high a profit as possible.

And part of this is because new laws don’t change consumer behavior. It will still cost people if they pay late or if they run up too high a balance.

Issuers are allowed to charge annual fees for the use of credit cards. Right now, many issuers do not do that. They are likely to start doing that.

They also are likely to offer less reward cards, and may require that credit card bills be paid immediately instead of allowing the previous 25 to 30 day grace period.

And they can still charge late fees and raise interest rates if customers are late paying their credit card bill.

All in all though, if consumers act responsibly and read the fine print they will be fine. Don’t charge more than 20 to 30 percent of your credit limit, and send your bills in on time, and you can avoid fees and rate hikes.

New laws will make it tougher for credit card companies to get college students hooked on easy credit, but if you are a parent, you can work with your child to make sure that they’re never even tempted.

You can do this by:

Setting a household budget and discussing it with your children so they have a realistic view of monthly expenses.

Having them do chores to earn a weekly allowance.

Requiring them to donate a small portion of that weekly allowance to charity and also to set a goal of some type – vacation fund? new ipod? – and set aside money for that. This will teach them how to save for things that they really want.

Don’t indulge them every time they want the latest toy. Make them earn it with chores, allowances, babysitting or lawn-mowing jobs, depending on their ages.

Don’t get into credit card debt yourself, and don’t indulge YOURSELF with new toys all of the time if you can’t afford it. Lead by example.

Have them join you in a volunteer work at a homeless shelter from an early age to give them an appreciation of all that you have and show them how much you really have in comparison to those less fortunate.

There are all kinds of laws and movements afoot these days to end the abusive and predatory practices of credit card companies.

Some of the things that proposed new laws might accomplish are: putting a limit on exorbitant fees and fines imposed by credit card companies; lowering the high percentage rates that some credit card companies charge; and limit the amount of credit offered to those under the age of 21.

These laws may be a good step but if you are deep in credit card debt, these won’t solve your problems – because, as harsh as it sounds – YOU are likely part of the problem.

Look over your credit card bills and be honest with yourself – are there restaurant meals on there? Expensive clothing? Vacations? A new ipod? A new television set, DVR, car stereo system, exercise equipment, salon visits, running shoes, gym membership?

Those are not necessities of life. If you can’t pay for them with your regular pay check, you should not be putting them on credit – unless you truly are going to pay off your credit card bill in full every single month. Which most borrowers do not manage to do.

So if you want to save yourself from a credit card mess, do not look towards new laws to save you – you’re going to have to change your spending habits and learn to differentiate between luxuries and necessities.