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It's that time of year again: the weather's grey and miserable, you're back to work with no prospect of a bank holiday until March and, to cap it all, the big, fat credit card bills are dropping through the letterbox.

It's all rather overwhelming and depressing and it might look like you will never pay the debt off. But you can go from debt to riches if you make a plan and take it step-by-step.

There are a lot of things you can do now and in the months to come to free-up more money that you can throw at your debts to pay them off in double-quick time. Here are ten top ways to turbo-charge your debt repayments.

1. Sell unwanted Christmas presents on eBay: It might seem ungrateful but why keep clutter if you could make money out of it? While you're at it, de-clutter your home and put your junk up for sale either online or at a local car boot sale.

2. Switch your debts: Switch to a cheaper loan or credit card to cut your payments. There are a lot of 0% credit card deals on the market, although they do carry a balance transfer charge, so do the sums and see if you would save by switching to one of those or just to a cheaper loan.

3. Switch utilities and other bills to cheaper versions: This is a good thing to do each January whether you're in debt or not. Utilities companies bring out cheaper deals all the time and it's highly likely that you could save £100s over the year just by switching companies. Check out the financial and utilities comparisons on this site to find the cheapest deals.

4. Have your own 'Buy Nothing Day' once a week: You would be surprised how you can manage for a day without spending anything at all. Give it a go - walk to work, make your own sandwiches for lunch, use things you have in the house instead of buying new stuff just for a day. It's like having a financial detox every now and then.

5. Use space to make money: Do you have a room you could rent out, even temporarily, to make money to pay off your debts? If you have a garage or driveway you don't use, put it on a rental site like www.parkatmyhouse.com to make money from it. If debts are really piling up consider moving out and renting your whole house out for a while.

6. Use your time and skills to make money: What can you provide that local people need? Do you have time to babysit or walk dogs? What about cleaning, taking in ironing, making cakes or jewellery and selling them at car boot sales?

Even if you think you have no special skills you can still make money offering yourself as someone who will wait in people's houses for workman or deliveries.

7. Make more of what you've got: Double your wardrobe by dying clothes you're bored with, putting different separates together and buying a few new accessories to bring last year's clothes up-to-date.

8. Have a swap shop with friends: Get everyone to bring clothes, accessories and even bric-a-brac that they don't want anymore. Swap with each other for a whole new selection of stuff for nothing.

9. Get as much as you can for free: Don't buy books, use your local library; read newspapers online; get free samples from www.freestuffuk.com, www.freebietown.co.uk and www.britishfreebies.co.uk; join mystery shopping agencies like www.tns-global.com to get free meals in restaurants, free groceries and overnight stays in hotels.

10. Make January the time for setting a new budget - new goals: Start now and aim to move from to debt to riches. Use an online budget calculator, or just write a list of your expenses on the back of an envelope. Do a plan of how much of your debt you will pay off each month and stick to it.

Aim not only to get out of debt but get into a positive savings habit so that the banks are paying you interest each month rather than the other way round. Put these ten points into practice and you will find yourself going nicely into the black in a few months time.

Jasmine Birtles is from moneymagpie.com - the website that gives you a richer life.