5 New Year Resolutions To Get Out of Debt
It’s a new year and so many of us in Mesa, Arizona and around the country have made resolutions for 2014. Lose weight. Get healthier. Exercise more. Quit smoking. Be a better father/mother/child and so forth. All of these are excellent resolutions and really something worth attaining. The trick of course is how to attain those this year and not just setting empty goals that don’t get met and “oh well, it’s another year, better luck next time.”
For millions of Americans, whether you live in Mesa, Arizona or Portland, Maine, another, very important goal is to get out of debt. This is a resolution that carries a lot of impact. Debt is crushing and can create extreme stress that individuals and families who live with debt know all too well.
Debt comes in many forms: mortgages, second mortgages, personal loans (such as to family and friends) car loans, department store debts, school loans, credit cards, medical bills and even tax debts to the IRS or to the state. Some debt is of course worse than other debt. A mortgage on a decent interest rate (say 4%) over thirty years, on a home you live in happily, is not a “bad debt”. A high interest adjustable rate mortgage debt however on a home in Mesa, Arizona that is worth far less than you paid for it and that you cannot even afford to cool all of, for example could be a very crushing debt for someone. Obviously high interest credit card loans are really stressful and “bad” for people. Even department store cards can get out of control with interest and late payment penalties.
For Mesa residents, we are lucky to live in a great community with many opportunities. We however, have also felt the terrible burden of the crashing real estate market and its devastating ripple effects all around us on our economy. The fact that we are now finally able to claw our way up out of this morass is a blessing but we realize there is plenty of damage to clean up along the way. Some of the ripple effects include people with more debt than is able to be managed. You can be stuck in the endless cycle of paying late fees, penalties and interest only and never get out of the debt mess.
Step One
One solution to start the process of straightening out the mess is to declare bankruptcy. Contrary to what some may think, bankruptcy does not mean you are shirking your responsibilities and not paying debts. It is a legal way of getting pressure off so you can start the process of sorting through the debt. Contacting a professional here in Mesa is a good place to start to find out about bankruptcy.
Step Two
Another key action to take to start getting out of debt is stop putting things on credit cards. You are already in the mess you are in. Stop it – don’t make it worse because the more it grows the harder it will be to dig out.
Step Three
Step three is to start carefully tracking purchases and eliminate any careless “accidental” spending. Going to the mall in Mesa or Phoenix? Consider first what you will be purchasing and write down what you need. Leave credit cards behind. Bring only the cash you need to spend and that’s it. Then keep track of your purchases and everything you got carefully.
Step Four
Step four is to review all of your past spending habits and find what the bad habits are and where money is being wasted. Do you clip coupons? Do you waste food? Are you going to more expensive supermarkets instead of discount markets where you can still get quality for less? Second from housing, food is a very large budget item for most families and can be the average family spends in excess of ten thousand dollars per year on food. Many families looking to save money reduce food costs easily without any sacrifice to healthy eating or yummy meals. In addition to groceries other costs come in the form of cable bills, cell phone bills, home alarm systems, cleaning services, eating out, entertainment costs and other loose cash expenditures. Bottom line – grab ahold of your budget and rein it in. NOW.
Finally, announce the plan to your family. Here in Mesa, there are many professional services to help with a bankruptcy. You and your spouse may or may not want to inform your children about a potential or completed bankruptcy and that’s fine. Keep that among yourselves and the professionals assisting you. But involve the whole family in making budget conscious decisions and you will be helping your children survive better in the long run.
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OUR PHOENIX BANKRUPTCY LAWYERS ARE LOCATED IN PHOENIX, ARIZONA, AND SERVE BANKRUPTCY CLIENTS IN SCOTTSDALE, PHOENIX, GLENDALE, TEMPE, MESA, CHANDLER, PLEASANT VALLEY, AVONDALE, CASHION, EL MIRAGE, PEORIA, SUN CITY, SUN CITY WEST, TOLLESON, YOUNGTOWN, GILBERT, QUEEN CREEK, CASA GRANDE, SURPRISE, PRESCOTT, MARANA, TUCSON, FLAGSTAFF AS WELL AS PIMA, PINAL, AND MARICOPA COUNTY.
DISCLAIMER: THE INFORMATION YOU OBTAIN AT THIS ARIZONA BANKRUPTCY LAW WEB SITE IS NOT, NOR IS IT INTENDED TO BE, LEGAL ADVICE. YOU SHOULD CONSULT A PHOENIX LAWYER FOR ADVICE REGARDING YOUR INDIVIDUAL SITUATION. OUR ARIZONA BANKRUPTCY LAWYERS AND STAFF INVITE YOU TO contact our Arizona Bankruptcy Law Firm AND WELCOME YOUR CALLS, LETTERS, AND ELECTRONIC MAIL. CONTACTING US DOES NOT CREATE AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANY CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION TO US UNTIL SUCH TIME AS AN ATTORNEY-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED. THANK YOU FOR VISITING OUR PHOENIX DEBT RELIEF WEB SITE.
The daily multiple phone calls that you receive due to being behind on your mortgage, credit card payments, bills, and/or other debts is a constant reminder of your unmanageable debt and your poor financial situation. With every incoming phone call, feelings of anxiety and stress become as overwhelming as the debt itself. Even if you never directly speak to a collection agency, creditor or debt collector, the unanswered calls and demanding messages do not stop reminding you that there is no hope of providing relief from your debt. Blocking numbers on your phone and screening calls is not going to help your debt go away, it may only briefly stop the collection attempts. What can you do to make the phone calls from creditors stop?
Many people in Phoenix Arizona and throughout the United States are facing tough economic times. Bankruptcy is an option to help alleviate your debt and financial problems, but you may be able to avoid filing if you consider some options. Bankruptcy is not for everyone, some people don’t qualify, some people don’t believe in it, and sometimes 
Bankruptcy is an option to help alleviate your debt and financial problems, but you may be able to avoid filing if you consider some other debt relief options. Maybe one of the following alternatives will work for your particular financial situation, or maybe you could consider several tools together to help you become closer to being debt free without having to declare bankruptcy.
A recent analysis shows that the number of bankruptcy filings in Phoenix Arizona and throughout the United States are declining. This must mean that the financial crisis and recession is over, right? — WRONG! If the current trend continues and filings continue at the same rate /pace as the past year, total bankruptcy numbers should continue to decline (for a second straight year in a row).
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