First see what your debts are so you can manage your debt. Gather all your bills and sort them in order of importance. Then look at the ones with the highest interest rates. You will need to create a budget to figure out exactly how much money you have coming in and how much you have going out. What do you earn versus what you spend?
Pay off your debt with the highest interest rates such as credit cards first and place minimum payments on other bills. Seek out a financial advisor or debt counselor to help you create a specific, individualized plan to meet your needs and help you reduce your debt. Strive toward getting out of debt by looking at your budget and seeing where you can make cuts in unnecessary spending such as extracurricular activities, cable, satellite radio, luxury items you don’t need or things in hindsight you don’t want.
You can also work toward debt consolidation which can combine all your debts into one and simplify your payments with a lower interest rate. But if your spending habits don’t change, don’t expect your debt to change either. Don’t let debt consolidation be a band aid on the real problem. You must commit to making it a permanent fix, not a temporary one. There needs to be a dedication to changing your habits and getting serious about getting out of debt or you’ll end up right back where you started from– with more debt to manage.
