HOW TO PAY DOWN DEBT: 6 TIPS (PT. 1)
The average U.S. household is carrying more than $203,000 in debt, when factoring in credit card debt, mortgage debt and student loan debts. While making efforts to pay such debt down is clearly important to getting to a better financial state, knowing just how to do this can be a little less clear, particularly if you are juggling multiple bills and financial responsibilities on a limited income.
To shed some light on just how people can start to climb out of debt and improve their financial situations, in this blog series, we will highlight some straightforward tips regarding how to pay down debt.
If, however, your debt is overwhelming and you are looking for some more powerful ways to eliminate this debt and achieve a financial fresh start, you can turn to the trusted and experienced Denver bankruptcy attorneys at Garcia & Gonzales, P.C. Our lawyers are skilled at developing innovative, effective debt relief solutions for our clients, and they are ready to start helping you today.
HOW TO PAY DOWN DEBT: HERE’S WHAT YOU CAN DO
TIP 1 – CALCULATE HOW MUCH MONEY YOU CAN PUT TOWARDS YOUR DEBT ON A MONTHLY BASIS.
As you get organized and serious about paying down your debt, a good thing to start focusing on first is your spending habits. In particular:
Figure out how much you need to spend monthly on your necessary expenses (i.e., living expenses and current debts).
Calculate how much money you spend on nonessential items monthly. Such items or expenses can include eating out, entertainment costs, etc.
Determine what you have left over (if anything) after this spending is done.
Take a closer look at both your essential and nonessential monthly expenses to evaluate if you can cut back on any of these costs and, in doing so, free up more money to pay down your debt more aggressively.
TIP 2 – PRIORITIZE YOUR DEBTS.
Once you’ve developed an effective budget for yourself, the next thing to do can be to prioritize your debts or, in other words, figure out what debts should be paid down more aggressively first versus which debts can possibly wait.
As you prioritize your debts, here are some things to keep in mind:
Debts with the highest interest rates should be the highest priority to pay down first, as these debts will end up costing you more money to pay off the longer they persist.
Once you’ve prioritized your debts, remember that even the debts that are lower in priority will still need to be paid on a monthly basis (so don’t try to aggressively pay down a high-priority debt at the expense of missing another debt payment, as this could sabotage your efforts to pay down debt).
For more tips on how to pay down debt, see part 2 or part 3 of this blog series.
DENVER METRO AREA BANKRUPTCY ATTORNEYS AT GARCIA & GONZALES, P.C.
Are you looking for real relief from serious debt? If so, you can trust the experienced Denver bankruptcy attorneys at Garcia & Gonzales, P.C. to provide you with experienced help, honest answers and the highest quality legal services.
Serving individuals, families and businesses throughout the Denver and Colorado since 1977, our attorneys can always be relied on to develop innovative solutions to unique financial issues while working diligently to help you achieve the best possible outcomes to your financial issues.
LET’S DISCUSS YOUR DEBT RELIEF OPTIONS – CONTACT US TODAY
To learn more about your best debt relief options, as well as how we can help you, contact us today by calling or by emailing us using the drop-down contact form at the bottom of this page.
When you contact us, you will communicate directly with one of our attorneys, not a paralegal or legal assistant. We welcome Spanish-speaking individuals to contact us also – hablamos Español.