It seems to be so easy to accumulate short term debt over the Holiday period. It’s a care-free time and it’s a little bit too easy to put everything on finance. But then late January hits, and you need to start making repayments – suddenly putting things on credit doesn’t seem like such a good idea. Once you’ve spent the money its done, but how can you make your newly accumulated short-term debt feel less crippling.
1) Take a look at what you’ve got.
To start off with, you want to know exactly what you’ve got. How much do you owe, what are the repayments and how much as you are being charged.
2) Make your repayments… and then some.
It seems straight forward, you need to make at least the minimum repayments. Once you know how much interest you are being charged, you can see where your extra repayments should be going – which is going to end up saving you money long term.
3) Say no more!
Don’t rob Peter to pay Paul. Using another credit card to make your personal loan repayments is a vicious cycle – which can be near impossible to get out of. Taking out any more short-term debt is going to make you stressed and you’ll find it even more difficult to get out of this cycle.
4) Budget
Take the time to sit down and work out your budget. Where is your money going? And why do you need to use credit cards to pay for everyday items? Make sure you identify everything that you need to spend per week (rent, mortgage repayments, power, food, bills etc.). once you have it all written down, assess what you can reduce – Your spending habits may not be apparent until you physically write them down and now’s the time to start living within your means.
5) Consolidate
Still struggling? That’s where we could help Consolidating your debt might just simplify the process. If you have an existing mortgage with a bit of equity, you might be able to add your short-term debt onto your existing home loan, otherwise we could help you consolidate your debt with another lender. Debt consolidation loans usually have a lower interest rate which means your repayments are going to be smaller, making the repayments more manageable.
Does a consolidation sound like something you need? Make it simple and contact one of our broker’s today.