Have you maxed out your credit cards? Are you paying the minimum for each credit card each month? Are you financially in “over your head” without a strategy to relieve the pressure? Join Rick and Brandon as they draw analogies between run-away credit and a run-away car. Learn some tips on reducing that nagging credit card debt and improving your personal cash management.
- Pay cash and stop using credit. Pay cash for as many things as you can without running your bank balance into your overdraft account. This personal accounting strategy can really teach you how much you spend each month, and on what items. There are few things more sobering than seeing your cash disappears out of your wallet.
- Make a personal accounting cash flow statement. Schedule out your expenses each month, and consider where you can cut. Be honest with yourself. You want to be debt-free before the holidays, in which at that time you can spend responsibly on gifts.
- Change credit cards. If you still have good credit and receive zero interest credit card teasers in the mail, it could be a good thing. The ones I have seen recently charge you a fee up front, like 4%. Try rolling over your debt onto a zero interest card, temporarily. This personal accounting move can give you a little time in paying off the debt before accruing more interest. However, there is a danger. If you do not change your spending patterns, you will be worse off than before. Use the new card in your personal accounting strategy to eliminate your debt, not incur more. So, this means that you may have to cut up all the other cards until you arrive at a zero debt level.
- Try to cook most of your meals. Yes, yes I know. You can’t cook. But, the internet is full of quick recipes that can make you a real chef Boyardee in no time. If you must go out, go to restaurant.com and get discount coupons, or buy an Entertainment Book. This way you could cut your dining cost in half, and still enjoy yourself. In this economy, even 5 star restaurants like Lawry’s the Prime Rib are offering deals. Look for them.
- Don’t borrow money from friends and family. They don’t need your problems, and it may be the last time they talk to you for a while. This of course may not apply in catastrophic circumstances where families pitch in to help each other.
- Put off large purchases
- Wait for sales
- Go to estate sales for bargains but know what you are buying
- See www.feedthepig.org for some helpful ideas.
- May have to speak with a non-profit credit counselor or bankruptcy attorney
