Free Debt Management Advice for Single Mothers
A Credit Article Contributed by Brandie King
Free Debt Management Advice for Single Mothers
If you are a single mother looking for free debt management advice then you will find what you are looking for in this article
According to Dr. Elizabeth Warren, author of the book "The Two-Income Trap", single mothers file bankruptcy three times more often than their counterpart that don't have children. That is a significant difference that proves there is a need to educate single mothers on the proper way to manage their debt. Even better would be to teach them to prevent the need to file in the first place.
Free Debt Management Advice Tip #1
Of course, the best tip anybody can give you is to not get into this situation in the first place. By all means have credit cards; you actually need them to help you establish a credit history. A nonexistent credit history is just as harmful as a bad one. Make sure that, at the very least, you pay the minimum amount due each month.
Free Debt Management Advice Tip #2
Do not file bankruptcy unless you have tried everything else you possible can and none of it has worked. Bankruptcy follows you around for a very long time and in a lot of cases will actually make your credit situation worse. Your credit may actually get worse due to the fact that some debts such as student loans can't be discharged. If you don't learn how to manage your debt properly you will end up in the same situation as you were before filing for bankruptcy.
Free Debt Management Advice Tip #3
Hire a debt management professional to help you learn how to manage your debt. They can also help you by negotiating with your creditors to lower your minimum monthly payments, reduce or eliminate over the limit and late fees, lower your interest rate, and/or consolidate your payments into one monthly payment. Before hiring a debt management professional make sure that they are accredited and find out exactly what they charge for their services.
You will still receive monthly credit card statements, so be sure you examine all of them carefully to make sure the professional is doing what they say they are doing. Check that all payments you are sending are being forwarded to the creditor. If the professional arranged to have over the limit and late fees frozen make sure that you aren't being charged these fees.
Free Debt Management Advice Tip #4
Evaluating what you spend each month is one way that you can help yourself reduce your debt. Sit down and make a list of all of your necessary expenses (rent, car payment, phone), all of your unnecessary expenses (cable/satellite TV), and what you spend on pleasure items and activities (going to the movies, buying new clothes). Now you need to take a serious look at what you spend each month. What could you reduce or eliminate?
If you have Caller ID, voice mail, and/or call waiting on your phone and they are costing you extra each month, you could cancel these services. Cancel your cable/satellite TV subscription or at least cancel additional channel packages such as HBO or Cinemax. Plan on going to the movies, but only do it once per month or every other month.
Taking a serious look at your spending habits and eliminating what you can will free up money that could be put into a savings account or used for the necessary bills.
