Fixing Your Debt Problems

By Bob Jones

You must differentiate between the various types of financial problems. For example, a financial crisis is when you suffer a situation that can render you penniless, homeless or without any substantial property. You should separate these sorts of emergency from a threatening phone call or a letter from a bill collector.

When experiencing an emergency such as these, it is crucial to act at once. You have to begin by contacting your creditor. Doing so gives you time to work out a temporary solution, which may help you to keep your property. However, it does not always work and if it doesn't, contacting your lawyer to negotiate with the creditor is necessary.

Face up to your Problem: The popular misconception in debt situations is "the less you know, the less it hurts". However, you must learn how to face your debt problems. You need to be able to do this since rebuilding and repairing the credit will not happen if you do not know exactly where your money goes or where it needs go instead.

Although it is not problematic to slightly overestimate the amount of your debt, it is always necessary to know how much money you actually owe. You can do this by looking at the bills you have had. If you have thrown out your bills without even looking at them, you can still call customer services and ask about them or request duplicates.

Several creditors even use an automated telephone system, which can provide the balance you owe and information regarding missed or future payments automatically, which means you do not even have to talk to anyone. Furthermore, information about your account might also be available on your creditors' web sites. After acquiring the necessary amounts, total it all up, especially your overdue instalment bills.

Options Available for Dealing with Debts: There are various options available to you when dealing with your debts. One method is to do nothing. This option is probably the most popular approach employed by those who are very deep in debt. Most often, these people have a very low income and maybe no resources and do not normally foresee any change in their lifestyle. If you do not anticipate any steady income any time soon, you can consider this method.

However, doing nothing does not really help, so perhaps you can find some money to pay your debts. You can do this by, first, selling a major asset, like a car or a house. This can be a good idea if you can no longer afford your car or house payments. Instead of waiting for a repossession or foreclosure to happen, selling the property is always a better solution.

The proceeds you gain from the sales should be put towards lessening your debt. Moreover, you should remember to pay off the liens placed by the creditors and use anything that is left to pay (something) off your other debts. However, before taking this step, make sure that you have already come up with an alternative for your housing or transportation needs.

A further way to help you pay off your debts, is to cut your expenses. This will aid you not only in the repayment of your debts but also when negotiating with your creditors. Try to shrink the cost of your food by cutting out coupons, buying generic brands, shopping where there is a sale on or shopping at discount stores.

However, if you cannot reduce your outgoings enough, you can always borrow money from a tax-deferred account. Tax-deferred retirement accounts, like IRA or 401(k), can be used to help pay off debts by withdrawing money from them before retirement. However, since you might need to pay a penalty or taxes, this should only serve as your last resort. - 33390

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