Debt comes in all forms, a mortgage, a personal loan, a car loan, and student loans. Then there’s a multitude of credit cards and maybe even some medical expenses. Before you know it what you bring in each month is rotating straight around and exiting out the back door. The good news is that you can reduce your debt and start to see some of your hard-earned money remain in the bank.
Creating a Plan
You may currently have piles of bills sitting on a table with no way to pay them and choose to ignore them. However, they won’t go away. If you don’t pay them you will soon receive letters from collection agencies, flowed by many phone calls. Once this takes place your credit score is now in a poor status. In order to unravel the debt you’ll need to borrow money from a family member, or if that’s not possible, apply for an installment loan from an online lender like MaxLend at https://www.maxlend.com/installmentloan.aspx. While this is certainly not a permanent solution, it will allow you to bring your bills current and create a plan of action to tackle your debt.
One Step at a Time
Your debt didn’t happen overnight, and you must remain committed to reducing it slowly. You can start by contacting each creditor to see if you can temporarily reduce the interest rate to pay down the debt faster. If that doesn’t work, you still have other options. For instance, if you have many credit cards that are at or close to their credit limit, take one and work to reduce it to less than 30%. Once you have the first one under the percentage move on to the next one. The process may seem like it takes forever, but in the long run, you’re restoring your credit and paying down debt.
Paying Cash
Going forward you must take control of your spending and use cash for daily expenses. This may mean that you have to wait a bit for larger items you want like a new television or a gaming system. However, once you have the money in hand to pay for it, it’s yours, with no interest added and no future bill to pay.
Taking on a Second Job
If your debt is overwhelming and you simply don’t have enough to cover your monthly expenses, you may need to take on a second job, even if just for the short term until pay down some of the debt. Use your talents and sell your services. With the internet providing a wealth of opportunities for additional income, you may not even need to leave the home.
Getting Smart with Your Money
Let’s face it, you work hard to earn your money, and spending it on frivolous purchases is a waste. This is not to say that you can’t treat yourself from time to time, but making reckless spending a way of life is not in your best interest for a bright financial future. Luckily, this is a pretty easy fix. For example, instead of buying coffee at $4.00 a clip each morning, bring a thermos from home or make your coffee at the office. When it comes to dining out, reduce it to just a few times each month. You don’t have to give up the things you enjoy, you just need to moderate.
Save Where You Can
There are many ways to reduce your household expenses. For instance, brand names aren’t always better than no-name brands. When you shop for food, check prices at the local stores prior to going, and then compare the store brand versus the name brand. If you have certain brands you want to keep, that’s fine, but experimenting by trying the store brands can prove beneficial in the savings. If you have a high cable and cell phone bill, contact other service providers to check their rates. The same goes for your gas, electric and even your car insurance.
Debt is something that most people have and in many cases it’s unavoidable. However, you don’t have to have so much of it that it prevents you from enjoying life.
