Money management is a key life skill that all of us need to learn at some point or another. If you don’t manage your money effectively, you’ll soon find yourself slipping into debt and experiencing financial difficulties. Knowing how to manage your money before you experience issues can save you a whole lot of stress and turmoil.
After all, owing money can be a stressful experience that can have a negative impact on your life in general. So, here are a few measures you can take to avoid falling into debt and to tackle existing debts!
Preventative Measures
There are various things that you can do to prevent yourself falling in debt and to ensure that you always have some money to fall back on when you need it.
Budgeting
A truly surprising number of people do not live by a budget. But this is a financial basic! Having a budget will allow you to understand how much you earn, how much of that sum should be paid in taxes, how much you will need to take out of it to buy necessities, and how much will ultimately be left over to spend on whatever you please. To start your budget, you need to figure out how much money you take home out of your salary. So many people misjudge the amount of money that we actually make.
They’ll see their “salary” and assume that figure can be freely spent. But you’re going to need to deduct a range of taxes from this sum before you get your true take-home pay figure. Once you have this figure, deduct your necessary outgoings. This can include rent, energy bills, insurance, transport costs to get to work and more.
Once you’ve deducted the things you need to pay to live your life on a basic basis, you will be left with your disposable income. This is how much you have free to spend each month. As long as you don’t exceed this, you should be good and never slip into debt!
Saving
It’s always a good idea to put some of your disposable income into a savings pot. This will give you back up funds for a rainy day and may be able to tide you over between hard times. You never know when you might need to draw on savings. An appliance might break. You might find yourself out of work. An unexpected cost may come up. So, be sensible and save!
Tackling Debt
If you find yourself in debt, the best way to tackle it is often to see if you can find an extra line of income. This isn’t ideal. But it can help clear things much more quickly. Consider a part time or freelance role around your main job which can give you a little extra income. You may also want to sell some belongings that you don’t get much use out of.
This can see money pile up pretty quickly and this can be used to clear outstanding or owed money. Another step you might to take is to balance transfer debt on credit cards. An interest free period on a new card can help to make clearing your outstanding balance easier – the money you pay will be clearing the amount owed rather than just covering interest costs!
Asking for Help
Sometimes, despite your best efforts, you may find yourself in situations where you don’t have sufficient money to meet your needs and you may need to ask for help to rectify the situation. Here are just a few different options you might want to consider when times get tough.
Loans
There are various forms of loans out there. They’re essentially a form of lending and borrowing that gives you access to a set amount of money for a set amount of time with set repayment dates. There are plenty of types of loans out there. These can vary for general loans, where the lender doesn’t know what you’re spending the money on, to specialist loans, such as Bail Bonds, where the lender pays off a specific debt.
Once you have the money, you will then set payment dates so you can give the money back in installments. Of course, there will be interest attached to your loan. This is where the lender makes their money. So, you will end up paying back more than you borrowed. Make sure to check interest rates on any loans you take out before you take them out.
This will ensure that you know exactly what kind of situation you’re getting yourself into and that you can ensure you’re not getting duped into paying back a lot more than you’ve borrowed.
Bankruptcy
If you have excessive levels of debt and you genuinely do not have any feasible way of clearing them yourself, you might want to turn to bankruptcy. This is a legal process that will essentially wipe any debts that you owe to others. Just bear in mind that this really should be a last resort option.
When you file for bankruptcy, you will likely have to give up all of your assets to help towards partially paying your debts. This could be as extreme as to include your home, any vehicles you may have and most certainly any savings that you may have tucked away.
When you file for bankruptcy, your credit record will also be majorly impacted, which will also make it nigh on impossible for you to take out loans or borrow money in the near future. Before filing for bankruptcy, make sure to seek the legal advice necessary to ensure that it’s definitely the right decision for you.
Debt is a tricky subject, but avoiding it is essential to leading a well rounded and positive life that’s free of stress. Hopefully, the above advice will help you to manage your finances a little better!