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[H844]How To Avoid Debt

by Makabongwe Maseko, Mak

What I'm about to share with you are strategies you should use to get your self out of dept and stay there. It's really hard to move on with your life financially free and succeed knowing that you are on dept with every person and company all over the country. The smallest penny you get which can help you start your business just pays your dept.

Debt, the dreaded burden of paying back what you borrowed, is becoming the major contributor to worry and stress in today's living and brings a sense of hopelessness about the future. You should avoid a borrowing and useless spending mentality. Don't associate your self. Run away.

The quickest and most sustainable way to get out of debt is to put into practice ?self-control.? We live in a world, which promotes spending. We are subjected to an almost constant shower of TV, radio and magazine advertisements influencing us to spend, spend and spend. We need to become more aware of how we are tempted by advertisers to want things that we do not really need. We need to remember other expenses that may become a priority in the near future e.g. school fees, bond repayments and a car. We simply cannot buy everything our hearts desire.

Some low and middle-income earners are able to satisfy their needs but the challenge is to avoid getting locked in unnecessary wants and become heavily indebted. Good money management is about understanding the difference between needs and wants and spending your money wisely and not incurring debt unnecessarily.

As long as we live from hand to mouth, we need to take even more control over our money. So the secret in money management starts from drawing a budget and demarcating between needs and wants, which is called discipline. The people who cannot determine their needs end up spending all their money on wants (things you can do without). This spending is made easy by the availability of credit and we are tempted into borrowing when we should not.

The money we earn should be spent on the family's essential needs before we satisfy wants, which are just nice to have. We should aim to save the money we have once we have done all the essentials. The solution is to prepare a budget for your income and expenses. All of us are capable of managing our affairs well by using a budget.

Staying out of dept is very easy when you tell yourself. Apply all these tips and you see a big change in your financial life and become financially free. Plan all of your money movements and implement these steps.

Whether you need to eliminate debt or create a debt solution for yourself; your first item of business is to take a look at those paychecks and add them up for the month. Now add up all the bills you typically have over a month and subtract your answer from your paycheck total. If you don't have your finances together, you will find that you get a rather negative number here. The greater its negativity the more effort you are going to need to put into this problem. This is actually quite a common situation but people do not ever realize it, as they are allowing their credit card to take up the slack. It is actually not taking up any slack at all, but rather tightening the noose around your neck all the more; which brings me to the subject matter of the credit card debt solutions.

There is yet another imperative step we must take, and this goes along with the tips to stay out of credit card debt. Take out all of those credit cards stuffed into your wallet and put them away… far away, because otherwise we just keep throwing these pieces of plastic away, and they just keep popping right back up again in our mailbox. Keep one credit card stashed away in your wallet for emergency situations.

Now, take out that list of things you buy over a typical month and really look it over good. Cross out all the unnecessary things you tend to buy. This is for you to decide, but be sensible with your bare bones needs rather than wants. Your goal here is to get your monthly bills down to having at least $200, but hopefully more like $500 to $1,000 left over at the end of each month. This is your emergency stash. And as we all know, emergencies seem to pop up all the time; whether it is your car, refrigerator, furnace, or air conditioning.

Beyond the emergency stash, you may also need to take out a percentage out of this fund in order to pay back the debt that has occurred over those months you were making less than you were spending; and making up the difference with that of your plastic buddy (a.k.a. credit card). If things have become more out of control than you would like to admit; DO NOT put your head in the sand and hope that it will all just go away; because it wont. Things are only going to get worse from here on. Even if you straighten yourself out, the high interest rates on previous debt may still be enough to do you in.

This is where you will want to look into consolidation of your debts. It is quite common today to seek out the help of debt consolidation companies that spread throughout much of the yellow pages and Internet. Often times you can do a number of items; such as refinancing your house, cashing in a few policies, get rid of an overly high car loan, and then consolidating whatever is left over in order to get you out of the bottom of that barrel. Just do your research first before signing any papers; there are just as many consolidation practices designed to get even more money out of you than help you. But if you do your homework properly, and possibly even get the opinion of a lawyer before moving ahead with your debt solution, you will find yourself breathing easier within the first few weeks. But once you see the light of day; you are going to have to continue to work hard to keep your entire finances in tip top shape.

Some people spend their lifetime in and out of the barrel, and never really know the freedom of ever being completely out of it. It is all just a matter of paying attention to your finances, and where you are at any given moment. So take control of yourself before you have to let Uncle Sam step in and take all of your valuable possessions and leave you with a giant “L” on your forehead with an ink expectancy of no less than five to seven years!

Article Source : Pg. 125

About Author

Both Makabongwe Maseko & Connie Barker are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.

Makabongwe Maseko has sinced written about articles on various topics from Business Plan, Personal Desktop and Stock. Makabongwe Maseko offers advice on the business industry on his weblog "Online Marketing Business Opportunity". To get more information and tips on business matters visit:. Makabongwe Maseko's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.

Connie Barker has sinced written about articles on various topics from History, Finances and Debt Consolidation. Connie Barker is the owner of several financial websites including those which deal with . Connie Barker's top article generates over 40500 views. to your Favourites.