What is the best way to lower my debt?

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I have a consolidated student loan that's about 12,600 dollars. I also have credit card debts totalling around 9500. I have considered getting a loan from HSBC in December (that's when they will have a loan for people like me that don't own a home). I have also considered opening another credit account and moving all debts from other credit cards to it. My third option is getting a loan from a bank. I'm not sure what to do, since my friends don't seem to like HSBC all that much and I don't know much about bank loans or balance transfer on credit cards. My debt is not really that high, just over 21,000 total. However, I am having trouble paying bills, credit card minimums and part of my student loan minumum payment each month (I never have enough to pay the minimum all at once, so I'm behind). What is the best way for me to lower my debt without being severely poor each month? Let me clarify: I am not living beyond my means because that is what got me in trouble in the first place. I am just trying to figure out what would be the better of the three choices I asked about. I can live paycheck to paycheck, but I'm trying to figure out if it would help me to consolidate my debt or not. I'm thinking balance transfers to a credit card is out, so which would be better, getting a loan from a bank or getting a loan from a financial service like HSBC? Or should I stay away from loans?