By Tiare Rath, CBS MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Between the mortgage, the car payment and the credit card debt, you may feel overwhelmed. But are you in trouble?

Two credit experts who deal with nothing but debt all day long can see the signs from a mile away. Obviously, most people can't pay for a house and car with cash, so secured debt is usually OK to carry.

It's that credit thing that gets them in trouble. "It's not a healthy fuel we've got fueling this healthy economy," said Catherine Williams, who serves as president of Consumer Credit Counseling Services in Chicago.

Here's what Williams and Debt Counselors of America President Steve Rhodes say are key warning signs that you could be in over your head, and the first steps you should take to turn things around.

1. You're talking about it -- a lot

Notice discussions at home swerving toward money all of the time? That's a red flashing light that you could be in trouble. "It's a sign that there's some discomfort there," Williams said. Obviously, preoccupation with money takes time away from other issues, which can hurt relationships as well.

2. You have no cash savings

Everyone's so set on building their 401 (k) and other retirement plans that they forget a little step -- cash savings. The problem? If the boom goes bust and your job becomes a thing of the past, you're stuck: a) withdrawing from your retirement accounts and getting penalized; b) charging up a storm on credit cards because you don't have the cash to survive; or c) defaulting on loan payments. None paints a pretty picture.

3. Your card is your best friend

You use it everywhere -- the grocery store, the department store, the video rental shop. Problem is, if you're like two-thirds of Americans, you don't pay the balance off every month. If you're using credit cards to pay for items you used to purchase with cash, it could be a troubling sign. By using credit cards instead of cash, checks or debit cards, it's easier to go over budget, Williams said.

4. You don't know how much you owe

Let's see, there's the two Visa bills, the Mastercard, the Macy's card, the car loan payments. Credit experts call it "spreading the joy," because it's difficult to keep track of debts when they're scattered all over. Adding it all up can be scary because you'd be slapped with reality, but it's a healthy start. (If it makes you feel better, the worst credit card debt on record was 35 cards accounting for $386,000 in debt.)

5. You're scraping by

If you've got the mortgage and the car loan paid for the month and you can only handle the minimum on your credit card, "you're just inches away from trouble," Rhodes said. You probably don't have an emergency fund, and you're not paying off unsecured debt efficiently.

6. More than two cards are maxed out

Two cards full of debt isn't a good sign, credit experts said. Another rule of thumb is that you should be able to pay off all of your unsecured debt in under three years. "And that's really being generous," Williams said.

7. You take cash advances

Cash advances from credit cards can be dicey, especially if you're using them to pay the balances on other cards, Rhodes said. Try to avoid cash advances whenever possible.

8. You have no spending plan

This goes along the lines of not knowing how much debt you owe. If you haven't written down how much money you spend or owe, you'll end up spending when you feel like it. This causes overspending, credit counselors said.

9. Your percentages are tweaked

The general rule of thumb is that up to 20 percent of your takehome pay can go to paying unsecured credit -- including your car payment, Williams advised. Twenty-eight to 33 percent of your after-tax income should go to housing. If your housing payments are higher, you could go farther into debt, pushing that 20 percent target. If you're beyond 20 percent for unsecured debt without high home payments, you're in trouble.

Now that you know the signs, here are the first steps to alleviating some of the debt's weight off of your shoulders.

Lean on friends

There's nothing like a good friend who can tell you about struggling to fight off debt. Find someone who successfully got out of trouble find out how s/he did it. Bring a pen and paper.

Beef up cash savings Six months' worth of income in cash is a good safety net. Make it a
priority to start that emergency fund. "When you need it, you need to get to it," Rhodes said.

Cut 'em up Say good-bye to every credit card. If you keep them on hand, "you can rationalize, 'well, I can always use it for an emergency,"' Williams said. But if you've got a spending or credit problem, you tend to justify many "emergencies" -- the sale at Bed, Bath & Beyond, the "cheap" new laptop.

Get counseling

Credit counseling is free through many venues, including Consumer Credit Counseling Services, and won't go on your record unless you go into a debt management program. The good news is 75 percent of people seeking help don't need the debt management program, but most need a spending plan.

Read The Web has many great resources, as do public libraries. Rhodes also advocated one of his non-profit organization's publications -Five Easy Ways to Get Out of Debt.

Copyright 0 1997-2000 MarketWatch.com, Inc. Reproduced with permission.
All rights reserved.
CBS and the CBS "eye device" are registered trademarks of CBS Inc.