Debt can be an all-consuming drain on your financial and personal life. Many people suffer from massive amounts of stress do to a surging debt problem. However, before you have a panic attack about your debt situation, you need to assess what you consider to be your debt problems and see whether there is a solution. Although debt can be scary, you should first assess your debt situation to determine your options before worrying about the same.
*Assess The Problem:
Compile a list of all of your debts, the amounts you owes, whom you owe them to, and the type of debt it is (credit card, home loan, etc.). The point of doing this is so that you have a concrete picture of your total debt situation. You will see how much you owe in total and on what kinds of debt.
The reason for this is that all debt is not equal. If a majority of your debt is credit card debt, there are many things you can do on your own to lower your debt and to make sure that it never reaches the high levels it did in the past. If, however, most of your debt is in a home loan, you have different options and may require the help of an attorney.
No matter your situation, you always have options. No matter how hopeless you believe your situation to be, there are many laws, through bankruptcy and the like, that can protect some of your assets. As such, you may be able to keep your home, a car, and some other of life’s necessities.
*Determine If You Can Solve The Problem Or If You Need Help:
As mentioned above, if you have decided to file bankruptcy, you should hire an attorney to help you through the process. It is not mandatory that you hire an attorney, but having one will help guide you through the process and will help insure that no mistakes are made with your filings.
If, on the other hand, after assessing your debt situation you believe that you can solve the problem yourself, you need to write down a plan to pay off your debt. This means that you need to come up with a complete budget as well as a plan on how to pay off your debt. This will take some time, but if your plan is viable and you have the discipline to stick with it, you very well could solve your own debt problems.
*Determine A Course Of Action And Proceed:
Whether you decided that you need help or you can go it alone, once you have a plan in place, your next step is to follow through with it. Interestingly enough, this is the hardest part for most people. However, you need to overcome the fear, embarrassment, pride, or whatever other emotion or feeling that is causing you to avoid the problem. In order to solve your debt problem, you have to do something about it. As such, overcome your fears, whatever they are, and you can proceed to fulfill your goal.
Remember, assess your debt situation before stressing about the same. Determine whether you can solve your debt problems by yourself or whether you will need the help of an expert. Finally, proceed on your chosen course of action to solve your debt problem. Overcome any emotions or feelings that are holding you back or else your debt problem will never get resolved.