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Debt Reduction - A Program To Do It Yourself
By Sandra Simmons
In debt and need some relief? Don't despair, here are some tactics you can use to help yourself, starting now.
1 - Knock Off Using Credit
Put the credit cards under lock and key. That's the place to start. If you want to get out of debt, you have to learn to operate on only the income you make. Work out how to bring in more income and pay only with cash. This is the single most effective action you can take.
2 - Don't Commit to Spending Money Your Company Cannot Immediately Pay
When you pay for an item with credit because you don't have the cash, you are committing your business' future income to pay the credit company. Then you experience economic slavery. Evaluate whether or not the item will increase the company's production of income. If the item will increase the business' production of income, work out how to set aside the cash to pay for it over a short time period instead of whipping out the credit card. Find ways to increase the company's income and use it to pay both current expenses and pay off credit debt.
3 - Pay More Than The Minimum Payment That's Required
An effective way to reduce the debt every week is to take 10% to 15% off the top of the company's income and use it to pay down the debt. Establish a goal of paying 3 to 5 times what the minimum payment is on every credit card. Stash away a portion of the payment money every week before the statements arrive at your office. It's always easier to set aside a smaller amount over a 4 week period than to try to come up with a big chunk in one week.
Use the tactic of paying more on the highest interest rate card in your debt reduction program. Another effective tactic is paying off the cards with low balances as fast as possible. After paying those lower balance cards off, you free up more cash to use on the high interest rate cards.
4 - Never Pay Late or Spend Over Your Limit
Getting hit with $25 to $39 late payment or over-the-limit fees on which you'll be charged interest is a sure-fire way to set your debt reduction program back one giant step. Plus, if your payment is more than 30 days late, your credit record carries that big black mark against you for 7 years - a whopper of a penalty.
Recently a Vice President of a U.S. bank appearing on the news stated that over 24 Billion dollars was paid by consumers in interest, late fees and over-limit fees last year on credit cards. The credit company may fuss at you for paying late or going over your card limit, but they really don't mind when your mistake makes them billions of dollars every year.
5 - Find Ways To Cut Expenses
Reducing debt requires as much cash as possible, as fast as possible. Look closely at where your business' income is going and reduce all unnecessary expenses that do not contribute to making more money. Before you spend, evaluate how much money that item is going to bring back in to your business.
TIP: Always keep promoting your your company and its products to everyone - don't cut back on that activity. Just make sure you are getting a handsome financial return on the promotional investment.
Correctly managing the money in a business to ensure its survival guarantee it will survive takes more than a strategic money management plan to get out of debt, but this is a great place to begin. There are other strategies that can be worked out to increase the company's income, pay bills when they are due, have cash reserves for emergencies, increase profits and pay yourself more money. You want that, right?
Sandra Simmons, President of Money Management Solutions, has years of experience helping professionals and families manage their money to get out of debt. To find out about the Money Management Software she created, visit her website and watch the FREE 5-minute demo video at www.MoneyMgmtSolutions.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sandra_Simmons
http://EzineArticles.com/?Debt-Reduction---A-Program-To-Do-It-Yourself&id=903547
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