Burying your head in the sand won't solve anything. Take action today

It's around this time of year that talk turns to financial hangovers, feeling the pinch and getting a financial workout.

Well it may have been a turbulent festive season and you may well be wondering how on earth you're going to pay for it all, but this year we're avoiding the clich's in favour of giving you the tools you need to take control of your finances.

Start from scratch

This won't make easy reading but the first and most important step on the road to recovery is to make a list. How much have you spent on presents and entertaining? Can you account for all the expenditure or did you put most of it on the credit card? Look at your bank statements, credit card bills and receipts and write it all down.

Then use our household budget calculator to establish exactly what you've got left to play with. This useful tool should be a real eye-opener and will help you work out just how much of a financial work out you need.

Don't bury your head in the sand

Don't panic if you're in the red. Despite the higher interest rates experienced during 2007 borrowing money can still be very cheap and easy to manage. If you're struggling to cope, however, try Credit Action (www.creditaction.org) who may be able to help.

Keep it simple

Let's be honest you've probably overspent in December. It's almost impossible not to these days. The most important thing to remember is that the quicker you can repay your debt, the less it'll cost you.

AOL has developed a tool that will let you work out exactly how much you need to pay back each month on your credit cards our credit card repayment checker should help you to work out what your minimum obligations are on the plastic.

Save some cash

If you're with us this far then you're well on your way to taking control. The next step is to save yourself some money and to avoid overpaying on your debts.

Make a list of the rates you're paying on your overdraft, credit cards and store cards. These can all have high interest rates that'll eat into your pocket.

Now all you need to do is compare these rates with the best around. For example, if your credit card provider is charging you the average rate of around 16%, which it will be doing unless you're halfway through a zero per cent introductory offer, you could switch to a 0% deal with a new provider and save yourself stacks of cash as much as £800 a year in interest alone on a £5,000 balance.

Follow the same thinking for your overdrafts and loans, but beware: don't just switch for the sake of it. It might be better to switch all your debts over to a 0% credit card at the same time, or to take out a cheap personal loan and repay your debts all at once. Or you might just need an extended overdraft limit.

For a comprehensive way to view all your debts in one place and to see whether you can save money by consolidating them all into one monthly payment, use AOL Money's debt consolidation tool and see whether it's the right option for you.

Otherwise for an at-a-glance look at the cost of the cheapest personal loans and credit cards, see our best rate loans and credit card tables.

Whatever you go for in the end, the best thing you can do is to commit to paying off the debt. If you put a repayment plan in action you can rest easy in the knowledge that you're on the road to recovery and taking control. Don't forget you can always come back to AOL for more advice