ARE your debts keeping you up at night? Are you always worried about money? Are you barely surviving and can’t even keep up with minimum payments on your credit cards? Do you wish to reduce or eliminate your debts but don’t even know where to start?
If you are searching for debt reduction solutions, you may be inundated with advertisements for various debt management programs, companies and solutions. The choices seem confusing to the average consumer. The truth is that every situation is different and what may work perfectly for others is not necessarily going to work the same way for you. So what do you do before your debt problems get worse?
If you know your finances are a mess and you’re struggling with a mountain of debt, then you need to create a plan of attack to help you get rid of your debt properly. If you’ve ignored your debt problems for a while and you are now at a point where creditors have taken legal action to collect what you owe, self-help debt reduction may be out of the question and you may need to immediately take the legal steps necessary to protect what you have.
Many times, people come to our office with wage garnishments, bank levies or a lien filed by a creditor against their home and they don’t know what to do to stop it. These are the situations where filing bankruptcy may be the only way to get out of debt as quickly as possible and to protect yourself from further creditor actions.
It is important for you to have an accurate picture of your current financial situation before you embark on implementing a solution. This means understanding exactly how much income is coming in and how much you pay out in expenses. As a starting point, you should also write down your outstanding balances on all your current debts and add up the totals. The total figure might shock you at first but it’s important for you to know where you’re starting in order to create a plan of attack.
Alongside each debt balance, write down the amount of interest you’re being charged and how much you’re paying each month on that debt. Sadly, most people who are buried in a mountain of debt have lost track of what they owe. And because they have stopped paying their creditors, the bill collectors are now demanding the full amount which, of course, makes it even harder for the person to catch up on their delinquent debts.
If you’re on a very tight budget or if your income is not even enough to cover your living expenses, it may be impossible for you to get out of debt without having to file bankruptcy in order to wipe out what you can no longer afford to pay. For many people, this may be the only realistic way to get rid of debts hanging over their head instead of trying to pay their creditors slowly or even worse- not paying them and having to face the legal consequences later on.
Working out the right debt elimination or debt reduction plan to help you get out of debt can be tricky. Everyone seems to have all kinds of advice and they’re all convinced that their solution is the best. How can you know which one is the right one to help you?
If your debts are mounting up and becoming uncontrollable, maybe you also need to take a current look at your current lifestyle and how much it costs to maintain your standard of living today. Can you maintain this standard of living based on your current income or is it forcing you to borrow even more which just makes your situation worse? In order to become debt-free, you first need to fix your spending leaks to make sure that you are living within your means. This might mean finding the discipline to stop charging anything else on your credit cards and only buying those things you have the cash to afford.
If you need help in figuring out your options, I’d like to help you. Please call Toll-Free 1-866-477-7772 and let me review your situation. We have offices in Glendale, Cerritos and Valencia.
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None of the information herein is intended to give legal advice for any specific situation. Atty. Ray Bulaon has successfully helped thousands of clients in getting out of debt. For a free attorney evaluation of your situation, please call Ray Bulaon Law Offices at TOLL FREE 1 (866) 477-7772.