Yes, you are right that you need to deal with your financial situation before you can date just anyone, but if someone comes along with the financial means to help you there is no reason for you to reject them just because of the financial burden. Every person brings a burden into married life that their spouse will have to help with; you just need someone who is willing and able to help bear the burdens you cannot bear alone. You should also really double check if debt will prevent you from affording to raise a family, and again find someone who can help deal with it. They may be younger and older. The more you deal with the debt yourself, the less your partners financial situation will matter, but so long as it is a problem you should have pretty high financial standards and that may prevent you from getting in a relationship for a while.

As for the effort needed to get into a relationship, all you need to do is go somewhere where there are guys your age consistently, look presentable, and try and talk to the people there. A guy will probably take interest in you eventually so long as the environment you are in is conducive to dating. Once you have less debt and a better job, you should take more proactive steps than that to find a spouse.