Do Not Pay Your Bills on Credit

Published on March 2, 2010 by JaggiJoy

Half the Income But All the Bills

A TV commercial for a debt consolidation company aired recently where one woman told us that her work hours got cut in half, but she cannot pay half her bills. If you consolidated your debts into a lower payment, as they claimed, then you may be able to afford to pay your bills on half your income. Creating a working budget can help life be easier, even with the occasional emergency cash loan. Using credit cards to pay your bills is not a very wise idea. Debt consolidation can help you lower your expenses by working with your creditors, but better results can be achieved by reducing your variable expenses.

Cut down expenses

To pay your bills without credit cards, the first thing you need to look at is how much money you are spending every month. Honesty is the best way to get out of debt! Your restaurant and entertainment costs add up, so include these when you are looking at your expenses. Also, if you over spend, your budget will never be balanced. Or, it may just be that your standard of living is too high for your income. Budgeting often requires you to make hard choices on what to pay for and what to let go of. For example, paying more on a mortgage payment than you can afford may force you to sell the house. And, if you have a car payment of $ 400 per month, but can only pay up to $ 200 per month, get rid of the car.

Take a look at your housing, transportation and food costs to see where you can realistically cut down your expenses. Once you have done this and created a budget, you must put your budget into action. Once you create a plan, you must take the appropriate steps to lower your bills.

Debt Repayment Plan

With the massive credit card hikes that have been charged to many people lately, it is imperative that you pay off your credit card debt as soon as possible. Save yourself the headache from the credit card interest rate hikes and pay off your balance now. If you do not want to spend the rest of your life under a mountain of debts, create a debt repayment plan. Get rid of your cards, so that you can be clear to create a debt repayment plan. People may say that credit cards are a necessary evil, but they are not necessary at all. Credit cards do not help you to live within your means, and if you create a sensible budget, you will not need them. Sensible budgeting may help you in case of emergency rather than credit cards. That is why you need to set up a savings account with at least eight months’ worth of income in it. An emergency cash loan may come in handy if you have some time on your side.

Increase your money

No budget worth its salt is complete without a plan to increase your monthly income. Taking a large cut in pay can wreak havoc for many people. How will you cope. If you have a marketable skill that others will be more than willing to pay you for, you can still make money in a recession. What is it that you do well? If you could answer that question, you will have a way to replace your lost income. If you know how to plan parties or organize well, you may be able to earn extra money to fill the gap. As a writer, if you can explain difficult concepts, you can make extra money to take care of the shortfall from a cut in income. Take a general inventory of your skills and talents. Your hobby, turned into a business, may eventually replace your income.

Smooth Sailing

After creating and implementing your sensible budget, you will wonder how you ever lived with credit card debt in the first place! Just because you have a budget doesn’t mean it will work unless you put some action behind it. Creating a working budget can help life be easier, even with the occasional emergency cash loan!

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Debt Consolidation

Leave a Reply

Categories

Archives

Blogroll

Recent Posts