How to Successfully Overcome Financial Issues

As society has evolved to accommodate more and more comfort, security and pleasure seeking, our fears have also evolved accordingly, and at the top of them is our fear of financial insecurity. The fact is that every endeavor we undergo is to some extent connected with our desire to reach a level of financial security where day to day life no longer comes with the burden of needing to find other ways of making ends meet. 

It is also understandable that in today’s financial climate, the anxiety about not having enough to cover basic needs is top concern for the majority of the world’s citizens, no matter which country or continent. And when the biggest fear we’ve faced our entire lives greets us at the door as we are served with an eviction notice, lose our jobs or find ourselves buried under a mountain of debt, it seems we can’t fight the feeling of being overwhelmed. 

Step 1: Access your Income and Beware of Debts

The truth is that it really lies in your control that you get out of debt. While general recommendations like creating plans for reducing the debt or increasing your income are certainly welcome, the idea is to systematically go through a set of steps that will bring you closer and closer to your desired goal.

The most important thing is to realistically assess your steady income and then determine which of that is being spent and on what. This means listing not only fixed expenses like gas, telephone or electricity bills, but also those that vary (such as recreation, clothing, gifts, entertainment). After having made your list, prioritizing and tracking what you have spent will come much easier. 

Step 2: Seek Advice from Professionals

The next step is to consider seeking financial advice from a reputable credit or financial counselor. There are many programs that offer lists of certified advisers. He will need to receive all the information you have gathered thus far, from your expense lists, to bills, debt lists, financial assets and anything you consider relevant to your situation. Then set a goal that you and your credit adviser wish to reach. Usually this is establishing a reasonable budget that can allow you to get your finances under control and reduce your debt all at the same time. If such an adviser is not within your reach, check out debtconsolidation.com.au where you can find countless information and tips on how to create such a plan yourself. 

Step 3: Make a Payment Plan

Contacting your creditors to set up a reasonable payment plan which is manageable is the next step you need to take. The home mortgage is the priority in this case. Many Americans for instance are unable to play their mortgage- but contacting the lender right at once will help you avoid foreclosure.

You will be surprised to see that many of them are open to cooperation when they see the situation is temporary and that you are actively involved in resolving the situation as fast as possible. There is the possibility of reducing the monthly sum by extending repayment periods, suspending payments for a determined period or not needing to pay additional amounts when resuming payments. With car loans, since a creditor is allowed to repossess the car at any time after the payments have stopped, the reasonable measure is to sell the car, pay back the debt and avoid added costs of repossession and negative credit reports. 

Step 4: Successfully Manage Your Debts

Debt consolidation through a second mortgage or other types of equity lines of credit may help you sink the cost of your credit but at the price of your house as collateral. There are positive and negative aspects related to these types of credits, you can obtain great tax advantages that are usually unavailable with other kinds of credits but you can end up paying “points” (a point is 1% of the total amount you borrowed).

Conclusion

As an absolute last resort, filing for personal bankruptcy may be an option if everything else has failed but the consequences will haunt you and are severe. The idea behind it is that it is decided in court that you are no longer mandated to repay certain debts but this information remains in a credit report for 10 years and this might make buying a home, getting another credit, and even getting a job difficult.

It is important that you maintain a positive attitude in this situation that would indeed turn any man’s nights into restless and full of doubt. In most cases the doubt situation is resolved and with a revised payment plan you are well on your way to getting back on your feet.