Struggling to pay your everyday expenses, worried about losing your home or car. Getting those dreaded letters from creditors.
In today’s world with the way the current economic climate is there are so many of us struggling to cope with debt whether it be struggling to pay the phone or electricity bill, getting those frightening letters from creditors or even worst having the debt collector banging at the door and all this leading you to worry whether or not you are going to lose your house or car.
Since the beginning of time people have been struggling with debt and there are many reasons for why people end up in these situations whether it be from losing a job, a family member falling seriously ill or just plain and simply been to careless with there finances. But there are certain steps you can take, to take control of your debt and kick it in the butt once and for all.
The first thing to consider is to prepare a well thought out budget, you have to be complete honest with yourself and make your budget achievable. Workout what your cash-flow is, what cash you have coming in and what cash you have going out. What is your income? What are your expenses? Next start to prioritize your bills and expenses even include those small purchases such as the daily newspaper or weekly magazine, the cup coffee you have daily at the cafe etc. This will help you come to realize what your spending habits are. List all your expenses against your income and workout what your necessity expenses are. You need to come up with a budget that just has the necessities such as food, loans, rent, utility bills, insurance etc. There are many tools and services out there that can help you set out an effective budget, these days there are many community services out there to help families and individuals with there budgets and it would be a good idea to seek out these services if you struggle with the concept of a putting a budget together.
Getting in touch with the creditors never hurts either if you are struggling to make payments. If you explain to them why you are struggling you will find the majority of them will be sympathetic to your cause and will be happy to work out other payment options with you. Don't put this off other wise when push comes to shove the creditors are not going to give a damn when that debt collector is knocking at your door.
Credit counselling services is an option as well if your finding things difficult or if you can't work out any other arrangements with your creditors, they can be a very useful tool to utilize. A lot of these services are free non-profit community services. Keep in mind though some of these services have hidden fees involved so make sure you do your research before getting involved in any of these services, ask around for referrals from family and friends or even look on the internet and your local phone book fro information.
If you are fearing the worst and are expecting debt collectors to be knocking at your door, try and as quickly as possible become familiar with Debt Collection Laws and Practices, so you know what your rights are when that time comes.
