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Friday, August 7, 2009

Fixing Your Debt Situation

By Bob Jones

You need to differentiate between the various sorts of financial problems. For example, a financial crisis is when you suffer a situation that can render you penniless, homeless or without any substantial assets. You ought to separate these sorts of emergency from a threatening phone call or a letter from a debt collector, even though they are unpleasant enough too.

When experiencing an emergency such as these, it is vital to act at once. You have to begin by contacting your creditor. Doing so enables you to work out a temporary solution, which may help you to keep your possessions. However, it doesn't always work and if it doesn't, contacting your lawyer to negotiate with the creditor is necessary.

Face up to your Problem: A common misconception in debt situations is that "the less you know, the less it hurts". However, you must learn how to face your debt problems. You must be able to do this since rebuilding and repairing the credit will not occur, if you do not know exactly where your money goes or where it has to go instead.

Although it is not problematic to overestimate your debt, it is always beneficial to know how much money you really owe. You can do this by taking a look at the bills you have had. If you have thrown out your bills without even opening them, you can still call the company and inquire about the bills.

Several creditors even use automated telephone systems, which can provide a debt balance and information regarding the payments automatically, so you do not have to talk to anyone. Additionally, information about your account might also be available on your creditors' web sites. After acquiring the necessary details, total it all up, especially those overdue monthly obligations.

Options Available for Handling Your Debts: There are several options available to you when dealing with your debts. One way is to do nothing. This option is probably the most popular approach used by those who are deep in debt. Most often, these people have a very low income and maybe no property and do not usually expect any change in their lifestyle. If you do not expect any steady income any time soon, you could consider this option.

However, doing nothing does not really help, so perhaps you could get some money to pay off your debts. You can do this by selling a major asset, like a car or a house. This can be a good idea if you can no longer afford your car or house payments. Instead of waiting for a repossession or foreclosure to take place, selling the property is always a much better option.

The proceeds you gain from the sales should be put towards reducing your debt. Moreover, you should remember to pay off the liens placed by the creditors and use anything that is left to pay (something) off your other debts. However, before taking this step, ensure that you have already come up with an alternative for your housing or transportation needs.

Another way to help you pay off your debts, is to reduce your expenses. This will help you not only in the repayment of your debts but also when negotiating with your creditors. Try to shrink the cost of your food by cutting out coupons, purchasing generic brands, buying when there is a sale on or shopping at discount stores.

However, if you cannot reduce your outgoings enough, you can always borrow money from a tax-deferred account. Tax-deferred retirement accounts, like IRA or 401(k), can be utilised to help pay off debts by withdrawing money from them before retirement. However, since you may need to pay a penalty or taxes, this should only be used as your last resort.

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