Debt stress can cause you to lay awake at night feeling overwhelmed and anxious. The thought of not being able to pay your bills can turn your stomach and leave you living in fear.
What can creditors do to you? Will you lose your home? Will they garnish your paycheck? Stop living in fear. Let’s look at how to reduce debt stress.
Know the Laws
You need to know what a creditor can do to you based on the state you live in. For example, in some states, creditors can garnish your paycheck and in others they can’t. Knowing where you stand can help ease some of your fears. Check out 6 Tricks for Dealing with Debt Collectors for additional information.
Face It
Stop hiding from your debt. You need to sit down and add up all of your debt. Where is the money going? How much do you owe to who? Take a stand and accept that you are drowning in debt and you need to do something about it.
Call Creditors
Once you’re aware of your situation, take the time to sit down and call your creditors. Yes, this can be scary if you’re behind on your payments. However, you’d be surprised at how willing creditors are to work with you to create a payment plan that works for you.
Cut Expenses
You need to look for ways to cut your expenses so that you have more to put toward debt. The faster you pay off debt, the quicker you’ll reduce debt stress. Give up anything you don’t have to have. It’s a sacrifice, but you’ll be thankful once you’re out of debt.
Create a Second Source of Income
There are so many ways to create a second source of income that don’t require working another full-time job. You can sell things you have around your home. You can create merchandise to sell on Teespring or CafePress. You can even start a YouTube channel. You can even do all three!
Stick to a Budget
If you want to reduce debt stress, you need a budget. Create a realistic budget that you can stick to and still meet your family’s needs.
Consolidate
Last, but not least, if you want to make things easier, look into consolidating all of your debt into one account. This will make it so much easier to pay off your debt. The key is to find a loan that has a low interest rate or a credit card that has zero-percent interest. You must be able to pay off the amount before the promotion ends on the credit card though.
You also need a plan to pay off the consolidated debt and add no more debt to your load. Some people do end up worse off after consolidating debt if they continue to spend on credit cards and lines of credit.
Debt stress can literally make you sick. You need to take the steps to reduce debt stress so that you can live your life with less worry.
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