Pay Off My Debt. By Your Name

Transcription

1 Pay Off My Debt By Your Name

2 Table of Contents 1. What if I'm not sure how much debt I have? 2. What if I don't know how much I'm making in payments? 3. How do I get out from under all the creditors and debt I have? 4. What if I can't afford to pay any more than I do? 5. How do I reduce my expenses? 6. How can I limit my credit card usage? 7. What help is there to stay motivated? 8. Make Money With This Report 9. About The Author

3 What if I'm not sure how much debt I have. Make a debt chart Knowing your debt takes some work. You need to create a chart of what you owe and what you are paying. The categories to put on the chart should include : Who you owe, how much you owe them, the interest rate, your monthly minimum payment, your previous balance and your previous payment amount. By regularly filling this out and updating it month by month you can see how much you owe and the work you are doing to pay off those debts. You should always update the total amount owed on all your debts so you know how far you have to go to be debt free. What debts are priorities There may be a variety of things on your list of debts. Some may be things you expected to take a long time to pay off such as student loans, others may show places where you just bit off a little more than you could chew such as credit cards and others could be just a showing of a bad month, like utilities bills that have fallen behind. Look over your list and make mental priorities of the bills that need to be paid off first. Find creditor interest rates

4 Interest rates are very important. The higher the interest rate, the more you are paying to that person that doesn't help pay off your debt. Focus on getting rid of those higher interest rate debts first.

5 What if I don't know how much I'm currently making in payments? Find your minimum payment Every statement from your creditors will have a minimum payment listed on it. You should know what these payments are and make sure you budget at least this much for the bill, if you can, pay more on the bill to try and lower the debt. Record your past payments Keep track of the money you have paid. Keeping a chart of payments as they are made will help you see your progress at paying off your debt, but also make sure you don't miss any payments.

6 Who do I get our from under all the creditors and debt that I have? Credit counseling If you're not sure how to handle all your debt alone, there are a number of companies out there that can help. Look up your local Consumer Credit Service or Debt Service Center. You can start your search with organizations like the National Foundation for Credit Counseling, American Consumer Credit Counseling or Debt Headquarters. They will have you bring all your bills into the office and sort out what you owe, what you can pay, and help you create a payment plan that will get you out of debt. Some services just offer advice and training on how to be debt free, but there are some consumer credit services that will offer to pay off your debts for you through a loan. Before you agree to any such loan, read the details of the loan and see if you'll end up owing them more than you would your creditors.

7 What if I can't afford to pay more than I already do? Your household budget This is a good time to revamp your household budget. If you don't have one, you need to set up a budget that shows where the money that comes into the house every month is going. This includes everything from gas money to grocery and utility bills. Prioritize the budget Look at the things in your household budget. If you have a lot of money going out every month for entertainment, you need to set your priorities straight. While it may be nice to have a few nights out a week, cutting those events down will leave more money in the household budget to pay off some of your debt. Increase your income If you need more money to pay off you debt, have you considered making more money? This is a good time to look around for a part time job you may enjoy, or talk to you current boss about a raise. Make sure any additional job decisions are intelligent. For example if one spouse stays home with the children having them go to work means you have to pay day care costs. That may cost more

8 than you benefit in the long run.

9 How do I reduce my expenses? Lower utility bills Cut down on usage. Remember to turn the lights and other electricity using items off when you are not using them. When you need to use the big energyhogging appliances, such as a washer and dryer or the dishwasher, run these appliances in hours that are not peek power usage time. Usually after 9pm the price for power usage goes down. It's cheaper to do these activities on the weekend rather than during the week. You can also make a cut into your phone bill by getting rid of services you don't need or making fewer long distance calls. Shrink grocery bills When you go to the grocery store you need to make a list of only the things you need, and stick to it. Also when you are buying the items for your household, see if there is a cheaper brand than the one you usually use. All those pennies add up. Clip Coupons The Sunday newspaper is a great resource for saving money when you go to the grocery store. It is full of coupons to save on the items you want to buy. If you

10 are a good coupon clipper, you could save 25%-30% on your grocery store purchases. Keep your eyes open in the store, there are often coupons made available right on the display shelf! There are also online coupon resources such as YellowPages.com's Coupon Center or Hot Coupons. Wholesale Shopping There are a number of wholesale membership clubs that are now open to the general public. While they have annual memberships if you use the club purchases wisely at places like Costco or Sam's Club it is money well spent and will save you much more in the long run. Wholesale clubs offer bulk purchases of a number of items. Going to shop at these types of stores takes a lot of planning because you will need room to store all the items you purchase. Bulk purchasing is a better choice for those with larger families rather than a single person. No impulses Only buy what you need. As you go off on a shopping spree make sure the only items you are purchasing are the ones your really need. Every other item you add to the list is money that you are taking away from your ability to get out of debt. That even includes little things like a soda or a candy bar.

11 How can I limit my credit card usage? Emergency credit card If your credit card debt is out of hand, you need to stop using the credit card. You should limit yourself to just one credit card and only use that in emergencies. Otherwise when you are out shopping pay with checks or cash so you don't go over your spending limits. Stop charging If you can't control your spending when you have a credit card available, get them out of your reach. This may mean giving your cards to someone you trust for safe keeping or even having a freeze put on the cards so you cannot use them until you reinstate them.

12 What help is there to stay motivated? Watch the debt drop Getting out of debt is not easy, but it helps to see that you're getting somewhere. As you fill out that chart every monthl, you will start seeing your debt go down. That is a good feeling and should get you into a mindset to see it keep going down month after month. Watch your victory over debt As you work to pay off your debts every now and then it's nice to see a creditor leave the list. When you notice one of the creditor balances is pretty low, you may want to pull together the extra dollars to knock it off the list! Being able to remove one of those names is a powerful feeling and may boost your desire to pay off more of them. Reward the payoff When you accomplish your Goalplan of paying off your debt, you need to reward yourself for the work well done. Don t spend enough money to put yourself back in debt but look for something like a weekend getaway or new appliance you have been wanting to reward yourself for all the work you have accomplished.

13 Just make sure that while you are enjoying your reward, you are also working on paying it off.

14 Make Money With This Report

15 About The Author