Debtors Anonymous (DA) is a twelve-step program for people who want to stop incurring unsecured debt.

DA encourages careful record keeping and monitoring of finances—including purchases, income, and debt payments—to get a clear picture of spending habits.

This information is used to develop healthier spending practices, supporting one in keeping a reasonable quality of life while still repaying debt.

The first General Service Conference was held in 1987 in the auditorium at Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center in Manhattan.

[10][11] DA's original literature also includes the Twelve Tools of Debtors Anonymous, a list of practices to recover from compulsive getting into debt.

"[16] "Compulsive debting" is a neologism described variously in DA literature as a disorder,[17] progressive illness,[18][19] and a disease.

[23][24] An ethnographic study of DA members found they attributed the causes of "compulsive debting" to family maladjustment and a culture that constantly pressures people to spend money.

[26] Underearners are people with viable skills who are psychologically incapable of earning enough money to support themselves without incurring unsecured debt.

[31] Underearning can lead to become a "compulsive pauper,"[32] a term describing people who are consistently broke and in financial crisis.

[26] DA suggests members stay aware of manipulative advertising tactics as well as thoughts and feelings that trigger their desire to spend money.

"Self-debting" is the inability to identify or fulfill personal needs because of such preoccupations, whereas emotional indebtedness is the accompanying stress, anxiety, feelings of hopelessness or despair, and even suicidal ideation.

"Self-debting" manifests in various ways such as taking drastic measures to hide evidence of problems with money or debt, paying creditors to the detriment of one's needs, or even spending excessive amounts of time managing finances.

[3] "Abstinence" in DA is abstaining from incurring any new unsecured debt, a strict definition that includes not paying bills when due, borrowing money from a family member or friend without collateral, credit card debt and other unsecured loans.

For this reason, DA encourages members to develop "vision," the ability to form a clear and specific picture of what they want to do in life.

Ignoring one's vision is similar to "self-debting", it may result in physical or emotional distress, or preoccupation with other people's lives rather than focusing on oneself.

[36] The spending plan puts the member's needs ahead of the creditors and should not cause one to incur unsecured debt.

The ideal spending plan focuses efforts on increasing income and following a vision for the future.

[36] The member organizing the group typically brings his or her spending records, and a list of issues that he or she would like assistance with.

In this way, members are able to offer detailed rationale for their debt repayment schedule, allowing for empowered and functional negotiation with creditors.

One may, however, give preference to creditors charging higher interest rates, threatening legal action, or who are friends or family members.

Before taking a debt moratorium, DA suggests checking with one's sponsor, pressure relief group, and to contact one's creditors to explain the situation.

If a creditor threatens to take legal action under these circumstances DA recommends seeking professional assistance or revising the moratorium.

[47] In an independent study using convenience and snowball sampling, sociologist Terrell A. Hayes found and surveyed 46 DA members from July 1993 to June 1995.

[4] Hayes performed a qualitative analysis of survey results in an attempt to understand how labeling theory applies to the stigma of indebtedness.

The stigmatization would, Dickerson argues, change the debtor's economic philosophy and reduce the likelihood of impulse buying.

The pamphlet elaborates, however, that some DA members found bankruptcy only provided a "quick fix" and did not correct the underlying issues causing them to incur unsecured debt.

The NCNW Debtors Anonymous members had four goals: (1) Develop individual budgets and report regularly at group meetings on progress and problems; (2) Select and work with a buddy for mutual support and as a safeguard against spending urges; (3) Educate themselves and fellow members about credit costs, consumer protection laws, and the best prices of goods and services; (4) Set long-term goals and stick with them.

Meetings were designed to share information on where to get common products at the best price (clothes, home furnishings, small appliances, food, etc.).

Group sharing would usually begin after a member gave a short presentation on a topic she had researched for the meeting.

[56] In response to the 1994 economic crisis in Mexico an anti-government organization naming itself the National Association of Debtors Anonymous formed.