Face the facts
The hardest part of getting out of debt and your first step to finding debt
relief is realizing you are having problems paying off what you owe. It may
sound easy, but it is the most common reason people find themselves facing home
foreclosures and bankruptcy
in their lives. You must not make the mistake of denying you are headed for a
financial crisis. Follow these steps and take
control of your debt before it takes control of you. Admit to yourself that you
are falling behind and your debt is growing. It is a small step, but the most
important one.
Look at the big picture
Sit down and look at your
overall financial picture. A good trick is getting a
copy of your
credit report and see exactly how much you are paying out each
month, and how much you really owe. The results may surprise you. Add up all
your debts and then
prioritize them from the ones with the highest interest
rates to the lowest ones. These high interest rate lines of credit need to be
paid off the soonest as they are the ones which will hurt you the most in the
end. Look at what you owe and don't be afraid of it. You can live debt free,
but first you must know what you are up against. Getting a hold of detailed
information about what you owe and for how long just puts you in the driver's
seat to managing your personal debt.
A little financial planning goes a long way
There is no way around it, if you owe more every month than you are making, you
are in debt and if you don't get debt help soon you are heading for serious
trouble. Making those minimum monthly payments on your credit cards makes the
credit card companies happy, but you are
not getting ahead on your debt, in
fact your debt is getting quickly ahead of you. Sit down and make a detailed
budget based on your income. Look at all your monthly expenses and set a
specific amount for each. Then stick to it, the real test of whether you have
made a budget that works. Cut out the stuff that you just don't need right now.
Eating out just one less time a week can equal hundreds of dollars a month,
money that you can use to get out of debt now.
Just say No to more debt
You need to constantly say to yourself over and over again no to more debt.
While trying to fix your debt problems the worst thing you can do to yourself
is take on anymore debt. Just say no and
throw out any new offers of loans or
credit.
Remove yourself from junk mailing lists, which include most credit card offers now. Talk to a
professional debt counselor and let them help you get out of
debt, live debt free, and get on with your life.