Everyone has a debt to manage. Sometimes, if you have a large amount of debt you have to put in more effort to manage it all while juggling current payments that have to be met.
Here are a few of Ramona Singh’s tips to ensure you can manage your debt of any size. Ramona is Administration Director and registered debt counsellor at Infinite Life.
1. Keep a track of who and how much you owe
Start with a list of all your debts. Include the creditor name and total amount of the debt. Add a monthly payment and set a due date. Use your credit report to confirm all your debts.
It’s important to make sure you stick to this list. Don’t ignore it. Try to keep it up to date and check on it often.
2. Make sure to pay your bills on time
Missing payments will make things more difficult when trying to manage your debt. This will also increase your interest rates, so it’s best to avoid this as much as possible. Create alerts on your mobile phone or whatever application you can use to remind you several days before payments need to be made.
3. Make a monthly payment calendar
Make use of a payment calendar to help you figure out what bills need to be paid on what day. Having an overview of all your outstanding payment dates will help you place when payments need to be made from the time of your pay check.
4. Make some payment instead of nothing
If you cannot afford to pay anything, at least make the minimum payment. This won’t help you in the long term of paying it off but it keeps your debts from growing and will also ensure that you have a good reputation with your creditors.
5. Deciding what debts to pay off first
It’s generally best to practice to pay off credit card debt first due to the higher interest rates than other debts. See which credit card has the highest interest rate and make this a priority.
6. Pay collections off
Never sacrifice your positive accounts for those that have already been affected by your credit. Remember you can only pay as much as you can afford. It’s important to note that when you have limited income, you must focus on keeping your accounts in good standing.
7. Using an emergency fund as a fallback
If you don’t have access to savings then you will go into more debt to cover an emergency expense. Having a small emergency fund can help cover little expenses that could come up now and again.
Work towards creating an emergency fund and growing it over time with to the point you have a 6-month reserve built up.
8. Make use of a monthly budget
A monthly budget is what gives you full control over your finances. It can help you track your spending as well as finding problem areas with payments. A monthly budget will even help you fix bad spending habits.
Remember, your budget should be able to cover all your expenses that are needed, then you can cut out the things you’re overspending on.