All About Debt Relief

Debt Getting You Down? - Make a List!


Debt is not much fun and when faced with it, people sometimes look for complicated debt solutions and often overlook the many simple ways that you can save money. Believe it or not, one of the simplest and most effective debt solutions is to get hold of a pen and a piece of paper and make a list. By this I mean that keeping a daily record of your expenditure can reveal some interesting facts about your spending and point you in the direction of how you can make easy savings right away. My Father first introduced me to this, showing me the little piece of paper that he kept in his wallet. But at the time I just rolled my eyes and ignored his advice - big mistake. It was only a few years later when I wanted to try to seriously start saving money in order to make a dent in my mortgage loan. But this debt solution is not only useful for helping you to pay off a mortgage debt, but also credit cards and student loans and many other types of debt.

At the beginning of each month, I would just tear a piece off an old envelope and write my salary at the top and then immediately subtract the amount I want to save in order to pay off my mortgage debt. I could then clearly see how much I money I had to get me through the month. I then simply subtracted everything I spent when I spent it. The key to this is to writing down absolutely everything, no matter how small. I found that it was really easy to do - I would either write something down on the list as soon as I spent the money or take two minutes in the evening at home to go back over what I had spent during the day. Whenever there was a fairly large sum on the list, I would just write down what it was next to the amount, so that I could remember.

Once you have kept your list for a couple of weeks, you already start to make some fascinating discoveries. It was not the big amounts on my list that had to be dealt with, as I had imagined. These were essentials, which there was no way I could do without. However, the small amounts on my list were doing the damage! I was well aware that I was buying something to eat EVERY morning before going into the office, but I was totally unaware of what it was costing me. I was spending 2.75 British Pounds every morning on this. That was adding up to around 55 Pounds per month! As soon as I realised this, I started making my own. In addition to this, I could always turn to my list at any point during the month and see how much money I had left until the next pay day. This way, there was never any danger that I would have to go into the overdraft on my bank account.

This in itself represented a real saving that I started making each month and once I had cut one or two other unnecessary expenses revealed by my lists, I was making very significant savings, which I then put towards paying off my mortgage debt. Keeping a list of this type is a simple yet powerful tool because it will clearly and simply show you where your money is going, and give you the control to make some changes.

Emmanuel Mendonca is the webmaster of Debt Genius at http://www.debtgenius.com which provides free advice on debt consolidation, how to get out of debt and on saving money.


MORE RESOURCES:

Nigeria: N360 Billion Debt Relief Fund - So Long a Tale of Many ...
AllAfrica.com, Washington - Nov 17, 2008
This is a newly built hospital under the primary healthcare scheme sponsored by the government under the debt relief funds scheme. ...


Debt Relief for Impoverished Nations
Columbus Free Press, OH - Nov 17, 2008
Debt relief or debt cancellation gives the opportunity for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) to reprioritize funds and focus on development, ...


Legislation to target deceptive debt relief
Norwalk Plus Magazine - Nov 14, 2008
By Governor Rell's Office Governor M. Jodi Rell today announced that she will propose legislation aimed at protecting consumers from the predatory practices ...


San Mateo County district attorney, California officials sue debt ...
TMCnet - Nov 12, 2008
At attorney for the companies -- which include Bills.com, Freedom Debt Relief, Freedom Tax Relief, Freedom Student Loans and Freedom Mortgage -- said the ...


Give students real debt relief
Telegraph-Journal, Canada - Nov 18, 2008
New Brunswick has a remarkable opportunity to become a leader in post-secondary education. The provincial government, in their June 2008 Action Plan to ...


Debt Relief Offers Families a New Direction in Life
PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung), Austria - Nov 17, 2008
Due to the advent of debt relief, many families have found themselves in a much better position than they would've ever imagined before going into debt ...


Companies offering debt- relief services can be risky
Arizona Daily Star, AZ - Nov 8, 2008
Each year, thousands of consumers nationwide sign up with so-called "debt settlement," "debt relief" or "debt negotiation" companies. ...


Commission to identify distress areas
Hindu, India - Nov 16, 2008
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Fishermen Debt Relief Commission has been empowered to identify and recommend as distressed any district or part of a ...


Summary Box: Banks ask for credit card debt relief
Forbes, NY - Oct 30, 2008
By AP 10.30.08, 5:45 PM ET CREDIT CARD CALAMITY: Consumers, even those with solid credit records, have been defaulting at high levels on their credit cards. ...


Centre brews debt relief package for marginal coffee growers
Economic Times, India - Nov 10, 2008
BANGALORE: A debt relief package for the small and marginal coffee growers is being prepared and will be finalised in another two-three weeks, according to ...
Debt-relief package for coffee industry on the anvil Economic Times
all 7 news articles

Debt-Relief - Google News

home | site map
tons-of-articles.com © 2006