Being Proactive to Reduce Your Debt
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010Even though people being in debt is a very common occurrence, it is still a very much taboo subject in everyday conversation. Because of this people can start to feel uncomfortable about speaking about their debt issues, even with their nearest and dearest. However not talking to anybody and burying your head in the sand will make things much worse for you. When you know that you have a problem you should start being proactive to solve it.
* Work out how bad the situation is and whether it will be long term. Calculate your incoming and your outgoings (minus any luxuries) and check the difference. If your outgoings exceed what you bring in, there is an issue. But there is of course a possibility that this will only be a short term issue. Perhaps your hours have been cut this month but will be back to normal next month? On the other hand, in the worst case scenario it might be a long term problem for which you see no immediate resolution.
* If you find that it is not a massively long term problem, you could speak to your creditors yourself and try to sort it out directly. If you are a good customer and make payments on time before now, they will probably help you with some sort of payment break or some other form of assistance, as long as you make it clear that it will not be a long term problem.
* If your calculations tell you that you have a big problem and the problem stretches into the long term, then you should seek advice and speak to a professional. Somebody with experience in these matters will be able to outline your options. There are informal solutions available which they can tell you about, or they could tell you about an IVA or one of the other many solutions. These people are the best people to tell you what your options are and just how bad a situation you are in.
You cannot just ignore your problems, and whether it be an IVA or debt management plan or anything else you have to do something proactive to deal with your debt issues. Even if you can’t pay them back, you should have a chat to your creditors to see if they can help you because it at least gives the impression that you are being proactive. Saying that, if you enter into an IVA somebody else will deal with them, but if you are below this level it is probably best to keep them sweet!
Learn more about IVA and debt management

