There are several measures that you could take if you want to get your debt in control. In reality, many sophisticated systems and tools make most people feel intimidated by the prospect of not being able to achieve financial freedom.
As a matter of fact, all the sophisticated ideas and tools try to help us take control of our personal finances. With all the sophisticated methods available, the key with a large percentage of them is to get you to:
- Spend less
- Earn more
- Avoid debt
Below are some simple ideas that you could implement if you want to get out of debt by managing your personal finances. The same ideas will also be suggested to you if you need the help of a debt relief company.
- Plan your Purchases
These days marketing has become more aggressive, targeted and sophisticated than ever before. This means that if you don’t actually think about how you spend money vis-à-vis how much money you actually have, you will always end up owing more than you earn.
Give yourself a chance against aggressive and sophisticated marketing by planning what you want to purchase before you go out and actually buy something. Impulse purchases should be avoided at all costs.
- Avoid Debt
To reiterate, marketing has become very aggressive, targeted and sophisticated, this also applies to the finance industry, including the debt industry.
To give you a specific example, some credit card companies actually push their credit cards down your throat by sending you a credit card to your mail and call it “free”.
It may seem free, but it actually isn’t. This is just marketing talk to imply that they make it very easy for you to get the credit card.
What is important for you to know is that when you spend money on a credit card, you are actually borrowing money that is not yours and you will have to pay for it at one point or another.
- Pay Debts in Full
If you need to use your credit card (and it does come in handy at times), make a mental note that you need to pay it back within a specific period of time, usually 21 days, before it starts attracting charges.
If you want to manage a credit card like a pro, you can do one of two important things:
- Pay off all credit card balances before they are due
- Don’t use the credit cards at all
- Is your Rent or Mortgage beyond your Means?
If you are paying rent or paying for a mortgage that is more than a third of your monthly income, you are already setting yourself up for a disaster. This is just a general rule of thumb for those who want to know how much rent or mortgage is too much.
It is an important number to keep in mind because if you add up all other normal bills like utilities, food, school fees, transportation and entertainment, let alone savings and investments, you will find that you will spread yourself too thin.