Whether you had a job loss or simply find yourself in debt behind the point of no return – you join the increasingly large category of Americans who are in danger of losing their homes.

There are many ways to get yourself out of the financial trouble in which you find yourself, but some of them are not an easy journey and a lot of sacrifices may sometimes be necessary.

Most likely, your financial woes didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Debt doesn’t simply appear overnight. It is typically an ongoing event that stems from either financial irresponsibility or a slow or sudden decrease in income.

A sudden job loss is often the major stressor when it comes to getting behind on mortgage payments. Hopefully, the job loss is merely temporary and a new job can be found quickly. Of course, the availability of jobs right now is rather dismal.

The very first thing that you need to do before you fall behind on mortgage payments is to sit down and analyze every single penny that comes in and goes out of your household. Is there something that can be eliminated in order to save money?

A gym membership that can be cancelled? Can the grocery list be cut in half each week? What can you scale down on in order to make ends meet in your household.

Experts say that the very last thing that should be sacrificed is your mortgage. Why? It is a secured loan. If you don’t pay the bills – your house will be taken from you.

Sure, credit card companies will kill you with interest rates but they can’t take your most valuable asset away from you. Falling behind on mortgage payments is not something you want to willingly do; in fact, every measure possible should be taken in order to avoid that scenario.

However, there are times in which it simply isn’t possible to avoid falling behind on mortgage payments. You can’t continue to eliminate expenses that don’t exist. As soon as you know that you will not be able to avoid falling behind on mortgage payments, you need to perform as much damage control as possible.

Contact your lender. Put aside your pride, your embarrassment and simply make that phone call. You are definitely not the first person to contact them and express your financial distress. But, when you do contact them before falling too far behind on your mortgage payments, they may be able to help you.

Your lender may have some programs or offerings that can be made available to you. Sometimes, your lender can offer a short-term forbearance period if you can prove that your financial distress is temporary.

Perhaps you can look at refinancing and lowering your payments. Maybe there is a loan modification program that could be catered to fit into your budget.

Lenders do not want your house. It is incredibly costly for them to enter into foreclosure and go through the drawn out process. They also don’t want you to be behind on your mortgage payments.

With the recession causing havoc on American families, lenders are becoming more receptive to helping homeowners to maintain their homes. You just have to be willing to seek out the assistance and put every effort into moving forward to a much brighter future.