How To Handle Debt with Ballast Associates

Debt....just the word itself makes most people nauseous.  Debt is a heavy feeling of owing money that you don't have and likely don't have a plan to pay off quickly.  Debt can hold us back from many things when it comes to purchasing large ticket items like a home or car but it can also weigh you down mentally and emotionally.  So how do you handle debt?  If you're someone that feels like they have no extra money and they owe more money in debt payments than they make every month...calm down and take a deep breathe.   That's what I'm here to help you with!

The first part of dealing with debt is knowing how much you owe.  It may not be pleasant, but it's important.  You can't create a plan of action without knowing exactly how much you're dealing with.

This is the time that you need to get all of your credit card balances, outstanding loan amounts, and any unpaid medical bills.  Write down the name of the debt, the amount you owe, the day of the month it's due, and your minimum payment amount.  It's also helpful to note your interest rate because sometimes balances can be moved around to cards or loans with lower interest rates.    

The next step is to make sure you have an actual budget set up and to do that, you can use my guide to being on a budget.  Minimize as many expenses as possible and try to cut some out altogether so that the number that's leftover after you subtract your expenses from your income is a positive number.  This is the extra amount you have to work with each month.  This is also the amount you can afford to throw at your debt BEYOND your minimum payments. 

If you find that you simply don't make enough money to be able to balance your budget out, you need to go back and either try to cut more expenses or consider a side gig for extra income.  Sometimes you have to sacrifice free time to make extra money but it should only be temporary until you get in a better financial situation. 

Next you need to decide which debts you want to pay off first.  Maybe it's the one with the highest interest rate or maybe you'd rather pay off the smallest balance first.  Either way you choose to go about paying off your debt, once you pay one off, use that minimum payment amount on the next debt PLUS the next debts minimum payment PLUS anything extra you can scrape together each month.  This is a compounding way of paying off debt. 

For some people it's just impossible to pay off their debt in a reasonable amount of time based on their lifestyle and their needs.  In that case, you can look into a debt consolidation loan where you get to transfer your debt to one loan for a small fee and you can often even get a period of no interest if you pay it off in a certain amount of time. 

What can a company like Ballast Associates do for you?  Write here. A company like Ballast Associates can help you navigate the possibility of debt consolidation with a loan so reach out to them as soon as you can to give yourself a plan of action and peace of mind.

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