Efficiently getting out of debt

You may find yourself under a mountain of debt. This may be because of unforeseen circumstances, like medical expenses or your property being destroyed. Sometimes your insurance will not cover the losses, however careful you are. It may also be due to your own mistakes, unnecessary spending, and a lack of enough foresight to even get insurance. No matter the causes of your current predicament, the situation still stands the same. Everyone in debt is in the same situation. If you behave carefully from here on out, you should be able to recover.

So with that said, what are some things you can do to help yourself get out of debt?

Taking care of your budget

Well, the first thing we’d recommend is to figure out your situation precisely. Find out what your monthly budget is, and try to adjust it if need be. While it is always beneficial to have a budget, this sort of situation makes it essential. Figure out how your income balances with your expenses. Do you have any unnecessary spending habits? Or can you find less expensive alternatives for necessary spending? If so you may have to slash some of these expenses. This especially necessary if your monthly balance is zero. You need to find the money to pay the debt somewhere. It may seem harsh on yourself, but if you behave wisely, it should only be a temporary measure. It is better to temporarily forgo these things than risk never doing them again.

Try to set aside as much of your monthly surplus as you can. You should, of course, still, keep some left over in case of any future emergencies.

Try to not add to your debt

If you are already in debt, it is, of course, best not to keep digging yourself deeper into that hole. Many people find themselves in endless circles of moving from one loaner to another, to keep paying back previous loans. This is especially true if they rely on loan sharks, whose interest rates tend to be extortionately high. So, needless, to say, avoid any getting any more loans unless absolutely necessary.

We should further add that you should avoid using credit cards altogether. Some people are so used to using their credit cards for every expense; they do not even realise they are doing it. The problem with using credit cards is that they are too convenient. People can easily go into further debt without having to ask anyone for a loan without even realising. You end up spending more than you would need to, due to further expenses via interest. Credit card interest rates can be incredibly high if you do not pay your balance at the right time. This will put you into debt much faster in the long run.

This is why, when you are in debt, try as hard as you might to use a debit card. Leave your credit card out of your wallet. You should obviously still keep the card if it becomes absolutely necessary, but keep it somewhere safe and hidden.

Making a debt payment plan

Once you have set up a budget, you will have to use your leftovers to pay off your debts. To do this, it would be best to set up a debt payment plan. It will keep you organised and should hopefully allow you to know where you stand with your debt at all times. So, first things first, analyse the types of debts you owe. These could be regular loans, mortgages, credit card debts, etc. Find out which one is a priority. This depends on the size of the debt and the interest on it. The higher the debt, and the more interest on it, the more money you lose in the long term. So, it is better off to pay off the bulk of these debts first. Compile all of your debts and leave the largest portions of your payments to the ones you prioritise.

Decide how much you want to pay off each month. If you pay slowly, you may end up paying more in the long run due to interest building up. You will also, rather obviously, be paying for a longer amount of time, which may put pressure on you.

You can also decide to spend as much as you can each month to pay off your debts. This will make overall payments lower, but it can also leave if you in a worse situation if you are not careful. If you pay back as much money as possible, you may not have any money left over for unexpected circumstances. This could force you to get more loans, and you would end up paying back more in the long run. So, you would be best off finding the right balance for you. Everyone’s situation is different, so you must judge for yourself.

Try to lower your interest rates

This is one of the most essential things you can take away from us. When paying back your debts, you will want to minimise how much you are paying back. After all, you should want to get out of your debts as soon as possible. In order to accomplish this, you should try to lower your interest rates if you can. Interest rates are not always set in stone, so you still have some flexibility for lowering them.

Negotiating terms

You could, for example, ask your loaner to lower them directly. If you have good relations with your loaner and have a good history of payment, they may be lenient.

Look into debt consolidation

If you really need to, you could try debt consolidation. You can try to pay off your current debts with another larger one with lower interest rates. This has the benefit of lower overall payments and being able to keep track of your payments more easily. Be careful, though. As we said earlier, many people get stuck in a loop of paying one debt with another. This happens because they get loans from loan sharks with extortionate interest rates. You absolutely must be careful when choosing where to consolidate your debt. A bank is a great place to start, as they are almost guaranteed to give you fair terms. They may not always agree to deal with you, however. In these cases, you will carefully have to choose a trusted creditor by yourself.

Another, rather similar approach, would be to look into debt settlement. Someone offering a debt settlement will not offer you a new loan. What they will do, however, is aim to negotiate the terms of your loans with your other creditors.

Transfer your credit card debts

If your debt is credit card based, you also have some possible routes to explore. You could transfer your credit card debts from low to low-interest-rate cards. This option tends to be available to people in very short periods of time, in promotions. Therefore, you will have to look actively for an opportunity to present itself and transfer over. These will usually come with a fee, so you will have to decide if that particular transfer is worth it.