Being a busy working parent is hard. This time of your life is simultaneously the most rewarding and worrying, and often you might struggle with the prospect of paying your bills, feeding the kids, and having a lifestyle at the same time. If you are struggling financially at this time in your life and you have fallen into some debt, don’t fret.
We are here today to offer some advice to ensure you aren’t victim to Debt Collector Harassment or other problems because of debt this year. Here are our top tips for dealing with debt when it comes along, allowing you to return to financial stability this year.
Know how much you owe
This might seem like an obvious point at first, but it is surprising how many of us don’t know how much we owe in debt. This is especially true if your debt comes in many shapes and forms, and from different sources. Take an hour to sit down and look at your financial situation and create a total value of what you owe. This will allow you to come up with a plan to pay it off.
Pay high interest first
If you have more than one debt to deal with, you need to take stock of the interest rates being charged by each lender. Often the debt itself is easy to pay off but the interest can make it sky rocket to a ridiculous level, and if you want to reduce your payments you should target the debt with the highest interest first and pay it off ASAP. Once you have done this you can work your way through the others without worrying about interest accumulating.
Make a bill calendar
Managing all of the different bills you have as an adult can be difficult, especially when payments go out at different times every month. To ensure you can pay your bills on time and safely each month, create a calendar to track them. This means you can always ensure there is enough money in your account to cover the bill and you won’t ever go into your overdraft.
Make the minimum payment
Most loans will allow you to make a minimum payment each month to repay the debt slowly and in your own time. Ideally, you’ll want to pay off as much as you can afford each time, but if this is not possible at least make sure that you can pay off the minimum to stop yourself suffering the consequences.
Create a direct debit
The best thing you can do for yourself to ensure you never forget to pay a bill is to set up a direct debit each month. This will allow the money to go straight out of your account when you get paid and you won’t need to worry about being late and suffering a penalty as a result of this.
Spend less
One great way to manage debt is to reduce your cost of living. If you always spend money on coffees and lunches at work, try switching to making your own at home. Make small lifestyle changes to save a bit of cash and allow you to pay back your debt earlier.