The following is a guest post from M.J.
Debts can really make your life hell and can also bring down whatever savings and financial plan you have. There are a lot of ways you can reduce your debts from debt consolidation to debt settlement. But if you’re determined to pay off your debts and solve your financial problems, you can very well do that on your own. I had around $20,000 in credit cards and in a matter of 2 years; I was able to come out of this situation. This needed a lot of hard work and determination. But still I was able to do it.
What helped me cope up with my debts in life?
There were a lot of obstacles in life that had to be tackled before I was able to completely focus on my debt payments. But my family supported a lot regarding my debt payments. There are certain tips that I would like to share with you so that you can also get benefited from them when you pay off your debts.
1. Transferring of balance to a no-rated card
I didn’t want to take any professional help as I did not have the money to pay their fees even. So I thought of starting it on my own. I talked to my family and they really supported me a lot. I went for a no-rated card that had the introductory offer for a year and a half. It was a challenge for me to get rid of the credit cards in that time. Since there was no interest payment, I was able to transfer the credit card balances to the card and started paying single monthly amounts. I had 4 cards and the balances got reduced a lot. Well, I really was successful in getting my debts reduced a lot and that really boosted my spirits a lot.
* The balance on my first card was $6000 with the interest rate 12%. But after balance transfer, the amount got reduced to $5280.
* The balance on my second card was $5000 with the interest rate 14%. The balance got reduced to $4300.
* The 3rd card had the amount equal to $5000 with interest rate as 10% and it got reduced to $4500.
* Similarly the 4th card had a balance of $4000 and the interest rate was 9%. After transferring the balance to a no-rated card, the balance got reduced to $3640.
This way from $20,000, the total balance of my credit cards got reduced to $17,720. This reduction helped me a lot. In a matter of 1 and a half years, I was completely credit card debt free. But I still had around $5000 in my medical and other utility bills. That took another 6 months to pay off completely.
2. Personal finance
This is not that easy to inculcate in you. But if you’re successful in creating a good personal financial structure, you can very well do that. I searched the Internet for tips and also took expert advice on this matter. I had a lot of junk jewelry that I hardly used and many other antique pieces lying in the storeroom. I decided to contact any dealer to sell them off. I also organized a garage sale to sell some of the very old things. It really helped me a lot. As for the antiquities, I got a dealer after a lot of failed attempts and was able to sell them off for $3000. That was a huge step for me and I didn’t realize that I had so much old stuffs.
I was already leading a frugal life and trying to succeed in it. I was quite successful in it too. I always failed to follow my budget to the hilt. But after I started spending my life frugally, I was able to budget well. My budget system didn’t fail me for the first time.
I really had a lot of obstacles in my path to become debt free. But I was able to overcome them in due course just because I was determined. If you’re determined to get rid of your debts, you must try to have self-belief and faith which really helps in the long run.
Author’s Bio: M.J loves to write financial articles and she is a contributory writer associated with the Debt Consolidation Care Community and has written several articles on debt consolidation, debt settlement, bill consolidation and get out of debt for various financial websites. She holds her expertise in the Debt industry and has made significant contribution through her various articles.
Samantha A. Gregory is an author, consultant, and speaker. She’s a single-mom lifestyle, money, and parenting expert featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, Essence Magazine, HuffPost, ABC News, and Mint.com.
Samantha founded the award-winning RichSingleMomma.com™, the first online magazine featuring personal finance, parenting, and personal development content and courses for single moms.
She aims to inspire women who are ready to thrive and not just survive in their single motherhood journey. Connect with her on Instagram @richsinglemomma.
