Decide Now To Get Started

As with most important journeys, taking the first step is always the most difficult. And, the more unfamiliar the territory, the more difficult the initial process. If you are not the adventurous type, you will have to lean on us. We can help you. Getting started is not as difficult as you might think.

After you have thought about it, and you decide that you want to be DEBT FREE more than you want the creature comforts of your current habits, you will rush to get started; nothing will get in your way. The following considerations may assist you:

A. If you don’t start now, what is it that will change in your life to finally cause you to take those steps?

B. What are the past reasons that kept you from launching a debt elimination plan for your family long before now?

C. Is it worth hurting your family further with the embarrassing telephone calls and the creditors’ rude collection efforts? It isn’t fair that those family members are also feeling the creditors’ pressure.

D. Are you tired of the constant nagging of bill collectors searching for ways in which to apply more collection pressure? The nagging doesn’t decrease with time, it only increases.

E. Do you long for the time when you will have the personal peace to really enjoy a debt-free life? If you do, it is time to do something about your debt. Get some help. Like medicine, debt management is relieving.

F. Are you fearful that someday an embarrassing telephone call will come to your place of employment and affect the security of your job? If so, it is time to take the actions to put the danger at rest.

Making The Commitment

Making a binding commitment is the next important part of the process. It took a long time and considerable spending to get into serious debt, and it will take a considerable commitment to stick to any new plan to get you out of debt.

However, you can do it like thousands before you have done it. If time-proven steps are followed, you will find that the whole process is an invigorating one and will surely bring personal peace and calm.

The following steps may help you build new resolve:

A. Make an inventory of your new possessions. Determine which of your many possessions were not needed and could they be sold and thereby free up needed cash to help with your current debt.

B. Do a financial tabulation of all of those previously unneeded purchases. Compare the total amount of the purchases (if they were sold for cash) to the magnitude of your current debt. Is the amount similar to your current debt?

C. Tabulate the ways in which you and your family can begin changing your spending habits. You may discover that the spending really is a habit and it will take real joint commitment to discontinue the practices.

D. Make a list of the unpleasant aspects of being in debt. Think about how terrible they are and how they seem to negatively affect your life. Think how anxious you are now to rid your life of these unpleasant conditions and pressures. A frequent review of that list just might inspire a determination in you to strengthen your new non-spending commitment.

E. Imagine yourself in a dream or vision of what life would be like if you didn’t have any debt. Place yourself in that dream. Dare to feel the relief that could come from living DEBT FREE. Dare to enjoy, for a few moments, the strangely intoxicating feeling that would come with the welcome freedom from your debt. Commit now to enjoying that euphoric feeling for the rest of your life!

Develop A Workable Plan

Armed with a courageous start and a new commitment to finally begin building a successful financial life, it is time to start the planning process. Initially, planning is simply taking the following five very critical steps and implementing each one as soon as possible with very precise actions:

A. COLLECT THE STATEMENT/BILLS. Get all of the debt payments and current creditor statements out to ensure that the needed information is complete. If you decide to seek assistance from a credit counseling agency, you will need to present this information at the time of your enrollment in any debt management program. That information will be needed by any of the reliable credit counseling agencies to make the payment processing complete. In order to do the very best job for you, they must have all of your current statements. If you are going to manage your own debt elimination then you will need all of those same documents.

B. THE PAYMENT PROCESS. You will receive the timing and the amounts of your negotiated payment monthly from your credit counseling agency. They will also advise when your payment is due (up to 30 days from your enrollment date). This will allow you to start building your plan to ensure that every month the payment is sent to the agency. Make a determination now that every month the money will be available!

C. ELIMINATE UNNEEDED ITEMS. The plan will not work unless you are willing to avoid doing the things and spending the money that created your current debt problem. This essential step of getting a financial handle on spending is so critical to the overall plan that it must be considered as one of the 5 main steps. A new, defined, personal spending philosophy will be needed. Family planning will help!

D. ASSESS YOUR WANTS V.S. NEEDS. If you are like most people, you have been caught in the trap of easy credit, increased desires, professional success and unrealistic expectations. You probably have been told that it is easy to get what you want; so easy that it became difficult for your to determine the difference between a want and a need. Needs are essentials such as housing, food, water, clothing and income source.

E. ESTABLISH A WORKABLE BUDGET. Ultimately, to get your DEBT FREE program in high gear, your actions must culminate in the development of a budget for the payment of bills, making new purchases, and controlling unnecessary spending by the family.

 

Adopt A Realistic Schedule

If you choose to develop a debt elimination plan of your own you will need to establish a schedule for your new plan. That schedule should include a projected out-of-debt date.

If you choose to utilize a third party advocate, or non-profit credit-counseling agency, the agency will provide to you a new payoff date or, your DEBT FREE date. This date is the key date on which (assuming all payments are made as scheduled) you will be completely out of debt. To accomplish this, and to accelerate payments so that you can save interest, it will be necessary for you to establish scheduled dates for significant things to happen.

Some of the key, critical questions are as follows:

A. How Do My Payments Accelerate A More Rapid Pay-off? As the first bill is paid the payment rolls up and is then applied to the next bill. The progress for this is reported to you monthly. It will pay to track the process in the event that you want to amend your program as the first few creditors are paid.

B. What Happens As Bills Are Paid? As the roll-up occurs there are critical moments when changes can be made and amounts adjusted. At a later date, even new bills can be added as your circumstances change.

C. Are There Any Extra Funds? If additional monthly funds can be added to the agreed-upon initial payment, regardless of when the addition occurs, it will lower the obligation and have a positive long-term effect on the amount of the eventual interest to be paid.

D. When Do I Want Out of Debt? Your DEBT FREE day can be influenced by what you do. You can cause the plan to change based on the payment amounts. Your date can be made to coincide with other important dates such as purchasing a home, paying off car payments, etc.

E. Can I Make Additional Payments? Almost always, additional money is very difficult to find. However, adding money to the agreed-upon amount always causes good things to happen. If that can be an entire extra payment, all the better. Dates accelerate and interest is lowered, creating money to accomplish your more important key objective – getting out of debt and bringing hope back to your family.

F. Do I Have A Long Range Plan? It is extremely important to establish a long range plan. That means that you develop the process to project all income, purchases, vacations, unplanned items and miscellaneous spending intended in the future. All members of the family should commit to the plan.

Agree To Make Changes

If you have followed, or at least have agreed to follow, the first four steps of DEBT FREE living, you are now ready to take the critical action steps to accomplish your new objectives. Ultimately, making the necessary change is the process that makes the program work. Steps must be taken to firmly eliminate or change old procedures in order to allow preferred new habits to be formed. Those changes are:

A. Stop Reckless Spending – Spend only for those expenses that are in your budget. This is the first rule of DEBT FREE Living: Control your spending and the budget and all of your objectives can be met.

B. Lower Your Want Level – When you finally get a grip on the fact that much of what you are purchasing is simply going to satisfying a want and not a need, life gets simpler. Learn to do without wants. Learn to say no to things that are not critical or needed. Focus on needs not on wants.

C. Commit Your Family – If you are going to be successful, eventually you will have to get all of the members of your family to make the same commitment. It is critical that all family members are committed to getting the family out of debt. It begins with both you and your spouse or significant other.

D. Set Review Meetings – It is a good idea to set up regular meetings with your family to review your progress. They, too, must become invested in the process of escaping the bondage of debt. When they do, they will help you by controlling their own spending. Praise and reward them for their successful efforts.

E. Get A Payment Ahead – It is possible by constant work to save the money necessary for an extra payment. This can be saved as a hedge against an emergency or sent as a power payment to the credit-counseling agency you choose. The credit-counseling agency will apply any additional payments to all of your creditors, lowering debt and accelerating the payment of interest across all of your accounts.

F. Solidify Monthly Income – One of the best ways to get a payment ahead is to be certain that you perform well on your job so as to ensure your long term ability to pay. Also, part-time income should be considered for extra payments.

G. Re-enforce The Principles – If there is no regular review or teaching moment with all of the members of your family to re-enforce the principles, it can conceivably limit the success of your plan. Include them whenever possible to help re-enforce the critical debt free principles.

 

 

 

Start Your Debt Free Life Today! Call toll free: (877) 789-4172
Family Financial Education Foundation (FFEF) An IRS approved non-profit consumer credit counseling organization.