Debt is becoming a more and more common factor in all of our lives in both the manner in which it has become an acceptable option in recent times and the way in which the Credit Crunch and subsequent economic recession has left many struggling in the grip of same. There are a great many people who have all but reached the end of their tether and are despairing of not only ever getting out of debt but of even once again getting their level of debt under control.
When we recognise that we have a problem, before we get to the stage of considering how to get help with debt, we should ensure that we have taken every possible step of our own accord to go about managing the debt. We must ruthlessly examine our spending on items not associated with thedebt. This will include everything from the perceived luxuries in life to our weekly shopping and grocery bills. Nothing must escape our scrutiny in this respect and wherever a cost can be cut – or even better, eliminated – this action must be taken without further hesitation.
When we have cut our costs as far as possible, we must examine the extent and level of our debt and explore possible ways of perhaps consolidating it by taking one large loan to pay off all of the smaller ones and thus reduce substantially our monthly outgoings. We should make an appointment with an appropriate advisor with our bank. We should take along to the meeting all the details of our outstanding debt as well as proof of our income and anything else which we may deem relevant to our financial circumstances and perceived difficulties.
If the level of our debt has got to such a serious extent that we have damaged our credit rating, consolidation may not unfortunately be an option for us at the time. If this be the case, we are going to have to go down a somewhat less orthodox though still potentially effective route in order to find help with our debt.
The first step is to contact all the companies to whom we owe money and lay our cards on the table. It may well be that some companies will agree to postpone the interest on the debt for a time in order to give us some breathing space. Some of the companies may offer to reduce our monthly payment in a similar fashion by temporarily at least extending the term of the debt. We should be aware of and never lose sight of the fact that it is very much in the interest of the companies to whom we owe the money to help us in every way they reasonably can as if we go “under,” they may never see the repayment of what we owe them.
If we have tried all of the above without success, we may be forced to look at the option of such as debt counselling in order to find help with our debt. We should be extremely careful whom we approach in this respect, however, as there a lot of disreputable companies in this field. Contact your local citizens’ advice bureau, library or local government agency – any reputable authority in your area who may be able to point you in the right direction. Do not simply go by a Google search or classified newspaper ad to find such a company.
The extent of our debt, our local and national laws and the willingness to co-operate of both ourselves and our creditors will largely determine the outcome from this point onwards but at the very least, we will know that we have finally followed the correct path and taken positive action in order to find help with our debt and its management and elimination.