Say Goodbye to All Your Financial Troubles with These 8 Tips
Perhaps you don’t have the best track record with your finances, or maybe you aren’t exactly great with dealing with money in the first place.
Maybe you don’t have much income in general and you’d like to save a bit of extra cash for future purchases or even your pension. Whatever the situation is, debt will always be your worst enemy and managing your money is the first defense against debt hell.
Maybe you don’t have much income in general and you’d like to save a bit of extra cash for future purchases or even your pension. Whatever the situation is, debt will always be your worst enemy and managing your money is the first defense against debt hell.
Whatever the situation is, debt will always be your worst enemy and managing your money is the first defense against debt hell.
It’s understandable that not everyone is great with money, and there are times that no matter how good you are at handling your cash, you might end up with a streak of bad luck that results in emergency purchases and digging deep into your savings account just to make up for the problems.
However, after reading this guide and taking in all of this information, you’ll hopefully have a strong understanding of how to manage your finances.
However, after reading this guide and taking in all of this information, you’ll hopefully have a strong understanding of how to manage your finances.
We’ll be covering everything from your mentality to practical strategies and techniques that will help you save money, get rid of your debt, and gain the financial freedom that you’ve always wanted.
#1 Prevention is the Best Method of Defense
First, let’s talk about how you can deal with debt.
The most immediate question you probably have is “how do I get out of debt?” and, rest assured, we’ll be covering that later in this article.
But first, we need to talk about how you can actually avoid debt in the first place. This is for several reasons. First, prevention is the best method of avoiding debt in the first place.
Secondly, if you know how to avoid debt, then it will help you greatly when trying to get out of debt so that you don’t sink back into the negative again.
Lastly, learning about debt and how to prevent it will give you some insight into your own spending habits and how you can change them for the better.
#2 Poor Budgeting
First of all, you need to understand why you get into debt in the first place. Most of the time it is due to poor money management and budgeting.
If you aren’t budgeting already and you have a bad track record with your finances, then consider getting a smartphone or software application that will help you track your expenses and income.
This is the perfect way to visualize how much you’re actually spending, but it can’t work unless you are truthful about your expenses.
You’ll need to record every penny that comes in and goes out, even if all you did was spend a few bucks on some sweets or a bottle of water at work.
Keep all your receipts and monitor all electronic spending and add them to your budgeting application.
#3 Stop Taking Out Loans
Secondly, greed and overspending are other common reasons for falling into debt.
For example, if you really want to buy a new phone then you might end up taking out a loan or looking at other financing options.
You probably know this already, but financing an item or taking out a loan isn’t beneficial for the bank unless they gain some interest on top of the credit they give you.
Depending on what services you use, you could be paying up to 20% more for an item just because you got it with a financing deal.
Let’s face it, if you can’t be bothered to save up the money and buy the item in a single purchase without incurring interest, then you’re going to have to spend more money for the financing deal to be profitable for the lender.
In short, don’t get greedy with purchases. Wait for sales, wait for the price to drop, and try your best not to take out loans that you can’t afford to pay back.
#4 Seek Help
Whether it’s asking your friends for a bit of help paying back some bills or speaking with a debt management service, there is a lot of help out there.
Of course, not everyone likes the idea of asking friends or family members for help, especially not of the financial kind. But not only can you seek professional help or advice from your friends, you can also go online and speak with people on forums and communities such as Reddit and ask for some down-to-earth assistance with your current situation.
Being in debt isn’t the most pleasant situation and it’s even worse when you can’t speak to someone for help. Just remember that professional services will usually cost money and you might end up still being in debt after they’ve helped you manage it.
It’s important that if you are in debt that you don’t sink down further, so keep this in mind when speaking to professionals.
#5 Stop Denying or Hiding It
If you’re a parent or a rather stubborn individual, then you might be prone to refusing to believe that you are in debt. Perhaps you’re overestimating your income or you’re underestimating the amount of money you spend on a regular basis. However, if you take a look at your bill and the
Perhaps you’re overestimating your income or you’re underestimating the amount of money you spend on a regular basis. However, if you take a look at your bill and the
However, if you take a look at your bill and the angry letters that are coming through your door, you’ll probably realize that you can’t continue ignoring this situation any longer and that you have to face your debt head-on.
If you admit you have a problem with spending, it’s far easier to cope and deal with your problem as opposed to someone who simply chooses to ignore it.
The deeper you sink, the harder it will be to get out of your debt situation.
#6 Remain Calm and Stick to Your Rules
One of the worst things you can do during a financial situation like debt is to panic.
When you panic, your mind dwells on things that aren’t relevant to your current situation and it’s easy to become depressed about it.
Although debt is never a fun situation to be in, you have to consider your mindset and mentally prepare yourself to overcome your financial troubles.
This is why it’s important to remain calm and set yourself some rules when it comes to money. For instance, make sure you save a certain percentage of all of your income and put it towards repaying your debt.
Make sure that you limit yourself to only a single night per week to go out with friends, and ensure you aren’t overspending due to peer pressure or personal urges.
#7 Build Up a Strategy
If you’re currently working and gaining income, then you’re already a step ahead of most people who are in crippling debt.
Make sure you plan a strategy so that you have a consistent stream of revenue and do whatever you can to keep your job so that you can continue to pay off your debts.
Other things to consider when building up a strategy is who you’ll talk to about your debt, how much you can realistically afford to pay back on a monthly basis, and choosing which debts to pay off first so the interest doesn’t keep piling up.
#8 Find Your Bearings Again
Lastly, we’re going to talk about a very obvious but often forgotten quality that you’ll need to get out of debt.
For many people, getting out of debt is a matter of motivation and finding a source of inspiration or morale in order to meet your targets.
For instance, if you’ve just added a new member to your family or if a family member is having troubles with their health, you’re going to need a lot of money in the future to be able to pay for things like tuition fees, hospital fees, medication and other sorts of necessities.
These are expensive and there are rarely any cheap ways to go about paying for them. The turning point in your fight against crippling debt will usually be a moment of clarity or inspiration, something that moves you on a very deep and emotional level that forever changes your financial mindset.
This moment, sadly, doesn’t come to everyone when they need it and it’s not unusual for people to continue working while in debt for years before they get their moment of enlightenment.
Once you do, however, you’ll find your bearings again and you’ll feel like you’re the king of finances.
You’ll find ways to save money that you couldn’t have dreamed of before, you’ll feel great with each payment you pay back, and you’ll chuckle as you watch that red number in your budgeting app slowly creep its way back up to positive.
To Conclude
As mentioned at the beginning, the best method of dealing with debt is to avoid it in the first place.
Even if you suffer a string of bad luck and find yourself in debt due to unfortunate circumstances, you have to keep your head high and find ways to motivate yourself to live frugally for a while and properly manage your budget.
It takes a lot of hard work, but at the end of the day, it’s better than being sent angry letters every week about the money you owe and never having money or time to spend on yourself.
So what are you doing to cut out debt out of your life? Share your thoughts below.
Cheers!
