We introduce a simple and practical method for repairing inconsistent databases. Given a possibly inconsistent database, the idea is to properly represent the underlying problem, i.e., to describe the possible ways of restoring its consistency. We do so by what we call signed formulae, and show how the `signed theory' that is obtained can be used by a variety of off-the-shelf computational models in order to compute the corresponding solutions, i.e., consistent repairs of the database.