Debt Relief Help For Everybody

It used to be that if you needed debt relief help, you just went to Mom or Dad to help bail you out. However, once you become a legal adult, this is not a viable option for most people. Debt problems are a very common occurrence in modern life. We live in a society that promotes instant gratification. People are more inclined to spend what they haven't got when they feel as if there is no tomorrow. No matter what your level of debt, here are some commonsense debt relief help tips for everybody.

Keep A Spending Journal

The best debt relief help tip you are ever going to get is to start and maintain a spending journal of every penny you spend (or you and every household member spend). You can't plug up any money leaks until you can find the sources of those leaks. The usual advice is to keep this journal for an entire month, but most people can't manage that. If you can do it for one or two weeks, you're doing great.

The journal can show you right away where to curb unnecessary spending and save money. When you keep the journal, you also need to be aware of all of the fees on your bills. What is your bank charging you for using your ATM card? Are there any "mystery calls" on your phone bill that you were billed for? Are you paying for services that you never use? Debt relief help could be as close as your most recent bill.

Keep Only One Credit Card

Credit cards are probably why you need debt relief help in the first place. For every legal adult in the household, they should have no more than one credit card. This should be a major credit card like Visa or American Express - NOT a department store card. Department store cards are rip-offs that charge double-digit interest rates and only are worth it for people who shop only that particular store. If you own a business, then the business owner of the house could have one personal and one credit card that no one else in the house can use.

Take Inventory

Look around at what you and other household members have. Are there clothes in closets that still have tags on them? Big debt relief help - no more clothes shopping for a couple of years. Are you subscribed to magazines you don't have time to read? Cancel them. Do you need the latest gadget as soon as it comes out? Prices for everything drop considerably six months or more after a product comes out.