Nearly 75 percent of Americans envision themselves debt-free - excluding mortgages - at some point in their lives, according to a recent survey by LendingTree. But only half said they have a plan for how to get there.

The Better Business Bureau offers the following suggestions for those interested in becoming debt-free:

Set up a household budget to guide your spending patterns. Look at the bottom-line totals for your monthly income and expenses. If your expenses exceed your income, you need to either boost your income and/or cut expenses in order to bring the totals in line.

Don't go any deeper in debt. Put your credit cards away and make a concerted effort to refrain from accumulating additional debt.

Use daily money-saving strategies to free up more money. Adopt the mindset that you will save a bit of money each day. The possibilities are endless: forgo the daily coffee, take public transportation and use money-saving coupons.

Ask creditors to reduce interest rates. Contact creditors to request an interest rate reduction or a new payment schedule. Be honest about the challenges you are facing trying to reduce your debts and assure them that you'd like to remain a loyal customer.

Make extra payments whenever possible. Put money you saved toward making extra or larger payments on your high interest loans. Do the same whenever you find yourself with unexpected cash (from a gift, a raise at work, an income tax refund). Extra payments can dramatically shorten the amount of time it takes to pay down a balance and you'll save on interest fees.

Contact a credit counseling agency. If you can't seem to make progress adhering to a workable budget or paying down your debt, consider seeking professional guidance from a nonprofit credit counseling agency. Check out any debt consolidation or credit counseling firm's reliability and complaint record with the Better Business Bureau at bbb.org. You can also call 970-484-1348 or 800-564-0371.