Before you give up on you debt as a hopeless case please try some of these ideas. You might be able to fight your way out of the hole by yourself. This is not for the faint of heart or the undisciplined.
I did it. So can you.
Are you one of the millions of Americans who has found himself scrambling to cover your bills. Are you looking for a way to consolidate your debt and get out from under all the stress and worry that it causes?
It is very easy to get yourself buried in debt. Until you get to the point that you may think there is no way out but bankruptcy. This is generally not the case.
You do need a plan and you do need self discipline and most of all you need to be honest with yourself. Never mind the past and whose fault it is that you are in this mess. It might be an ex wife or a teenage daughter that has pushed you beyond the limit of coping. It really does not matter where the fault lies, it is time to deal with the present and concentrate on solving the problem. I was five years fighting my way out of the hole.
First off. Try and remember that they cannot kill you or put you in jail if you do not pay. Debtor's Prison is a thing of the past.
The first thing that you need to do is rethink your priorities. There are certain things that you need to live in this society. Food, clothing, and shelter. A car is nice to have but it is not essential and a leased huge four wheel truck might as well have, "Ticket To The Poor House" stamped on the bottom of the lease.
Believe it or not this is the time to open a savings account. No matter how little you save it will help considerable when you have unexpected expenses or emergencies. If you look over your list debts you will see that there are several that come due every six months or by the year. Car insurance is an example. If you are paying monthly multiply that figure by 12 and save that amount over and above your base savings figure. Then next year pay the entire insurance package off and turn it into a yearly bill. You will save money. Don't despair if it takes you two or even three years to make this happen. It is a fact of life that tires go flat, microwaves give up the ghost, and mufflers drop into the street. Our technological society has built in failure factor for everything that we use. You need a cushion of cash that can turn these disasters into expected and necessary expenses. A savings account can be your financial cushion. This is going to be your basic debt consolidation strategy. It will take time, lots of time, but it will be worth it in the end.
Begin to shop smart. Pay attention to the sales and coupons. Pay particular attention to the sales of things that you will use for sure. Soap is one of them. If you spot a sale of your favorite bath soap. Stock up. If you can buy six months worth you have opened another mini savings account. It is a good idea to take a look at what you have in your kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room and make a permanent list of the things that you use. Carry the list with you to the store. At one time or another everything that you have on the list will go on sale. You can open dozens of mini savings accounts by shopping smart. Use the money that you saved by not eating out so often. These mini savings accounts will go a long way in helping you consolodate your debt. Over time you will find yourself with a cash surplus that you can use to knock back the real debt.
Coupons are another money saver. They are a pain in the butt but they do save money. Most stores these days use an electronic scanner to read the bar code on the coupon when you are checking out. There are some people who save many thousands of dollars per year but they are the people who have made a career out of figuring out how to play the coupon game. For you, the fact that you use them is enough. If you do not, then you are leaving money on the table. More specifically you are leaving YOUR money on the table. Now it is not really about the small change you save with the coupon. It is about the attitude of changing from a spender to a saver. I have always hated coupons but once I tried to use them as a gaming experiance the reward was far more than the money I saved.
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