15 ways to overcome your debt

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Debt consolidation and bankruptcy - How to get your credit back
Personal Bankruptcy what is it? Personal Bankruptcy is legal procedures that enables a debtor to for the time being or lastingly avoid paying some of their personal debt unpaid. The US Congress enacted the existing bankruptcy code in 1978, and newly amended it in the spring of 2005.The objective of the legislation is to give relief and structure to those people of society who have gotten themselve... Read debt consolidation article



Debt Specialist - When you are caught in the debt spiral
We are always hearing in the media how the country is in debt and that many people are also in severe debt but most people think that they have their own debts under control.

I had a friend who himself had a number of credit cards and was very happy to use them, seemingly not phased that at some point in the future he would have to repay the money etc. He lived for today and was determi... Read debt consolidation article



15 ways to overcome your debt
Before sharing these recommendations, I suggest that you have a way of tracking your expenses. This will give you a clear picture of what you spend daily, weekly and/or monthly and aid you in reducing expenses where needed.

1) Accept the fact you are in debt and forgive yourself. If you are in denial, you are more likely to repeat the pattern.

2) Reduce monthly expenditures. For example, once the price of gas increased, our monthly gas costs went from roughly $200 to approximately $450- 500.00. In an effort to reduce our gas costs, I stopped taking miniature trips every day. Also, my husband would drive my car on the weekends because it costs less in gas.

3) If you're a person that makes several trips to the grocery store during the month, reduce the number of trips to once a month except for fresh vegetables. This will reduce the number of times you have to put gas in the car. Today, it costs more just to leave the house to get groceries as well as going to work.

4) With the increasing utility bill, begin making repairs to your home now such as getting a programmable thermostat and set it to a certain temperature so that it will automatically come on. 5) As an option, temporarily get a second job for supplemental income. If married, this should be the person that has the ability to generate the most income. I do not recommend any Multi-level Marketing opportunities.

6) For a single person in debt - if you are off on weekends, temporarily get a weekend job and put those funds towards the bills along with your regular income.

7) If you have a cell phone and a regular phone that both have long distance, re-evaluate having both phones. It can get expensive to have both with long distance. Maybe you can remove the regular phone and just use your cell phone if most people call you on that number. 8) If you are a stay at home mom, in my opinion the kids should not be going to daycare. This is an unnecessary expense.

9) Be sensible about your expenditures when it comes to your children. For example, a six month old baby does not need name brand clothing. They need to be clothed. Suggest getting into 'mommy group' where you and your friends can swap clothing based on gender and age. I have a couple of moms that I swap clothes with and this saves all of us from having to shop at the store.

10) Grooming expenses for adults: do you really need to get your nails done every week? Could you put that money towards a bill? If you are getting your hair done whether it is a weave, perm, braids or tinting every week - do you need to go to a high end salon or could you go Great Clips for the same thing? I am not saying do not pamper yourself; however, as times get tougher what is the necessity?

11) Maintaining your vehicle is a necessity, but going to a car wash every week is not. You can wash your car at home. Re-evaluate how you are spending your money.

12) If you are a person that likes to go out to eat, reduce the amount of times per month you go out to eat. Begin cooking at home since you are buying groceries for the month.

13) Entertainment - whether it is going to the movies, bars or happy hour - these expenses add up. For example going to a matinee is $7.50 a person (for the two of us is $15.00 before we even get food, which would cost us another $15.00) do you really need to see the movie now or could you wait three months and see it on DVD. Netflix is an option. 14) Add up how much you spend at a vending machine per week when you are at work if you work outside the home. Consider taking snacks from home.

15) Health insurance - if you had a job and are using COBRA for health insurance until you have secured another job, seek an alternative health insurance to the COBRA payments. I remember when I first stopped working at the law firm, we utilized COBRA for almost eighteen months and the price increased two times. Prior to the second increase, I located a shared insurance plan and saved us lots of money.

** There has to be some structure during these difficult economical times. However, these times do not have to be so hard that you cannot enjoy life.
v Dr. Taffy Wilkins Wagner is the author of Amazon.com Bestseller Debt Dilemma. Debt Dilemma is her personal story of how she got into debt and was able to get out of debt without filing bankruptcy. If you need help getting your finances in order email her at taffy@paidoff.net she will help. To purchase Debt Dilemma go to http://www.paidoff.net.

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Debt counseling - Strategically paying back debt

When paying back debt, a little strategy goes a long way. It can literally save you hundreds, even thousands of dollars in interest charges. And the best part is that the best, most effective strategy is so easy to follow.

List Your Debt Make a list of all your debt: The amount of each, the monthly payment and the interest rate. You may have trouble finding this information, but it's worth bringing it all together into one place and documenting it in a format you can follow. You can't manage your debt strategically if you don't even know the full extent of it, now can you?

Remember to include your credit cards (be sure to include the different rates and balances for purchases and cash advances) other cards, loans, mortgages, and even money you've borrowed from friends or family. All debt counts when you're trying to pay it off completely or to get it down to a manageable level.

Bad Debt and Good Debt Go through your debt and organize them into "good" and "bad" debt. This may sound a bit odd, but all debt is not created equal - certain types of debt are nowhere near as bad as other debt. A mortgage, for example, is an investment in a house, paid over a fixed term - there's no real risk of paying a ridiculous amount of interest or never getting it paid off. On the other hand, the interest you're paying on a credit card isn't tax deductible and isn't associated with an asset of value and so that debt is "bad" debt. Below are a few examples of both types of debt:

Good Debt - Mortgage, Student Loan, Car Loan Bad Debt - Credit Cards, Store Cards

As a rule, good debt is for a fixed amount of time and allows you to buy something of value that without the debt, you couldn't otherwise afford. On the flip side, bad debt is "revolving" and is used as a substitute for cash to purchase in many instances, non-essential products and services.

Prioritize For the time being, cross your good debt off the list. You shouldn't consider paying your good debt off early until you've paid all your bad debts off.

First, arrange your debts by interest rate, with the highest interest rate at the top. Odds are that the debt at the top will be a store card or credit card, which could have a very high interest rate. Next, try to transfer as much money as you can from the high-interest cards down the list to the lower-interest ones.

Once you've done that, focus all your energy on repaying the debt with the highest interest rate. Pay the minimum on everything else and throw as much money as you can find at paying that debt off as quickly as possible.

A few ideas to come up with some additional monthly income are: Cancel any non-essential monthly commitments and put that money towards your payments. Until you pay off your bad debt - stop saving. Keep track of where your money goes, for a month or two. This will enable you to find areas where you're spending money frivolously that you could be using to pay off your debt.

Do your best to give up any expensive habits you might have. You'll be shocked at how fast your debts can go down if you put the money you normally spend on smoking, drinking or gambling towards them! I'm not trying to spoil your fun here. Simply make a few small sacrifices for a while, and your life will be so much better in the long run.

You have to be aggressive against your high interest carrying bad debt and focus on eliminating at all costs. This is a war, be the aggressor, win the monthly battles and before you know it you'll win your war against debt.

Kevin Erickson is a contributing writer for: http://www.aneyeondebt.com and http://www.debtmergeresources.com and http://www.debtmgmtresources.com. This article may be reproduced only in its entirety.


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15 ways to overcome your debt
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