February 22, 2010
How to Manage Your Debts
With the economy looking the way it does, I thought it would be a good idea to do some research on how to manage my debts more effectively.
My debts aren’t too bad, my main debt is obviously my mortgage, but I have one or two credit card debts that need paying off…so this is where I needed the help.
I simply typed ‘debt management skills’ into a search engine and filed through the results. I came across this one site that gave me some pretty useful pointers, and I will share them with you here:
1. Look at my priorities
This was the first point (and most important one). I had to look at my finances and work out which one of my debts would carry the most severe consequences if I failed to repay it. I found that this was my mortgage (secured debt). I then looked to see which debts weren’t as important, and found that my credit card debts fell into this category.
The site made it clear that it was very important to make sure I could afford my secured debt repayments, because if I didn’t pay them, it could result in severe consequences, such as my home being repossessed. Repaying my other debts is still important - but the consequences of falling behind on them probably wouldn’t be as bad, and those lenders are more likely to accept lower payments if that’s all I can afford.
2. Create a budget
The next thing I did was create a budget. This improved my debt management skills considerably. It allowed me to make sure I had enough money for all my financial commitments every month.
Budgeting also allowed me to see exactly how much money I was spending each month, which meant I could highlight areas in which I could cut back on luxury spending and save myself money. The money I saved was put straight towards repaying my credit card debts! I need to clear those before the interest grows too much.
3. Speak to a debt adviser
The site also recommended speaking to a debt adviser if people find improving their debt management skills difficult to do on their own. Luckily for me, I managed to improve my debt management skills on my own by making use of the points mentioned on the site.
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