by Semify
Being in debt can feel like someone is sitting on your chest all the time. It’s a feeling of constant dread, and it can overwhelm you if you don’t take steps to manage it. You can do that by creating a checklist that you can follow along with to ensure that you are making progress. Here are some tips for making
Assess Your Current Situation and See Where You Stand
Here’s where you’re going to be able to see what kind of beast you’re trying to get your arms around. When you see everything written down in front of you, it can give you some clarity about how to go about attacking the debt. See if you can pay off the smaller ones and then negotiate with the larger ones to lower the amount that you owe. There are times when they will just want to get something instead of nothing.
See How You Can Save Money
There are ways that you can lower some bills in your home. For example, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, you can save up to 20% on your monthly energy bills by sealing air leaks and adding insulation. You can then use that money to pay your debts.
Although you don’t want to wind up adding to the debt, there are times when you can get loans to do things like home improvement. According to Investopedia, you can use that money to pay off 100% of the renovation. Then, if you put your home on the market, you can get a return on that investment and pay the loan before too much, or even any interest accrues.
Maintain Things
You also need to make sure that certain things, like appliances, run smoothly. Your plumbing system, too. According to Angi, if it’s a newer system, you should have it receive maintenance once every two years. While you might be in debt, you also don’t want to sink more money into getting a replacement for something instead of getting it repaired. Doing that will be a long-term strategy for putting money back in your pocket to use for your debt.
Cut Unnecessary Expenses
The things that we listed above can be seen as necessary. You’ll need a vehicle to drive back and forth to work to make money to pay for your debts. There are things that aren’t necessary, though. You don’t need to pay a lot of money to eat out every night or to order delivery. You could save a good amount of money by grocery shopping or making sandwiches for lunch. You don’t need multiple streaming services – see if you can get free options. A few commercials are a small price to pay. That’s money that can be redirected to your creditors and help you stop being a debtor.
Manageable Side Hustles
There are other possibilities. You might consider getting a second job or finding a side hustle, like selling things on sites like eBay or Craigslist. Some people make a career of doing this. Find something that you’re good at. Are you skilled at finding collectible sports cards in places that others might not know where to look? You can do that and put the profits toward paying off debt.
By doing the above things, you can create a checklist to get you on the path to being debt-free. Don’t let the panic set in. Just take several deep breaths and write out the checklist. See if you can talk to any financial advisors. They can go into more detail about the things you can do. There are debt refinancing companies that can negotiate with your creditors and get your payments lowered. See how many options there are out there.
So, what do you think ?