How to Get Your Whole Family on Board with Tackling Debt

How to Get Your Whole Family on Board with Tackling Debt

Source: Unsplash | Sabine Peters

Debt is an issue that affects the lives of many people in the U.S. Sometimes, problems related to debt are made much worse because family members aren’t all in agreement on what to do about it. Here’s how to get your whole family on board with tackling debt.

Helping Your Children Understand Student Loans

Student loan debt is more prevalent now than it has ever been before. While there are plans being thrown around about it potentially being wiped clean by certain presidential candidates, it’s not a good idea to bet on that idea.

There’s now more student loan debt than credit card debt. And while student loans are often considered to be one of the better forms of debt, as education can boost your employability, the payoff doesn’t always make up for the massive cost.

It’s important for families to understand what it means to have student loans. A lot of young people go off to school without thinking too much about their loans. Times were different for their parents. Plus, if everyone else is doing it, there must be a reason, right?

Families should come together to do some math and get a clearer picture of what it’s going to take to pay off that debt after graduation. Doing this might play a role in determining where you ultimately decide to go to school, and when. You can also come up with a plan for how it makes most sense to tackle this debt if it ends up seeming like the right choice.

Making a Full-Family Budget

Budgeting shouldn’t just be the responsibility of one person in every household. After all, everyone spends money. Shouldn’t everyone play a role in determining how it gets spent?

This doesn’t have to entail the kids getting to determine the candy budget for the month. But there are a few benefits to having everyone come together to build the family budget.

First, this can be a learning opportunity—for everyone. The children will get to see how to make a budget and why it’s important. The parents will get to see what kinds of things everyone is spending money on. And everyone can come together to decide what areas it might make sense to cut back a little.

Getting Your Spouse on the Same Page

It’s always a tough situation when you’re having a hard time getting a spouse to see the importance of reducing your debt. This is something that can drive a major divide in your relationship if not addressed and resolved the right way. This is why it’s so important to come up with a plan, together.

Married couples struggling with thousands in debt can consider utilizing a debt relief program. Looking at Freedom Debt Relief reviews shows they’re a highly reliable resource for this. Many enrollees who leave reviews even mention they decided to try settlement for their family’s benefit following an event like a spouse losing a job or unforeseen medical bills.

It’s always tough when one partner has incurred a significantly higher amount of debt than the other. If you’re the one with more debt, it’s best to address the situation as soon as possible and be open to solutions. When your partner is the one with more debt, it can make things more complicated. You should try to avoid making it seem like you’re putting all the blame on them. Do this by mentioning some of the errors you’ve made when it’s come to debt, too.

Another kind of spouse-debt scenario is when one partner has been hiding debt from the other one. This can have huge financial and relationship ramifications if not addressed in a timely manner. When you’re the one with the hidden debt, get it out in the open as soon as possible. You might think that you’re going to pay it off without them knowing, but this is much harder said than done. You’re also not going to address the root causes of that debt if you continue keeping it under wraps.

Try to establish a team mentality so your family can tackle debt together.

You’re not going to get out of debt if your family isn’t on the same page about it. Sitting everyone down to address any issues will bring you closer together and solve problems.

Drowning in Debt: Ways to Recover

Drowning in Debt: Ways to Recover

When you are in debt to many creditors at once it can consume not only your money, that’s a given, but also your life. Being in debt doesn’t feel good. In fact, it can cause you to sink into depression and leave you unable to perform to your best ability at home and work. Having excessive debt can also have an impact on your credit. The good news is that there are several ways to fix the problem and relieve the stress you now face daily.

Applying for a Loan

A quick fix to your debt is to earn cash quickly to pay up what you owe. However, in most cases when you are severely in debt, you also have a poor credit score, which will limit the number of lenders who will approve a loan application. Thankfully, there are other lenders who offer quick cash loans that don’t use the same guidelines as traditional banks, giving you a better chance at getting some money to help reduce the debt.

Debt Consolidation

If you feel that you are too far gone to straighten things out, a debt consolidation service may be of interest. You will need to have all your information including the names of the creditors and the amounts you owe each one before contacting the service. However, once you turn over this information, they will contact each one of them and try to reduce the amounts you owe and settle them. This will let you pay one payment each month to the debt service to cover all the balances. In many cases, you can pay them off completely within one to two years.

Contact Your Creditors

If you prefer to do it on your own, and you think that you can start to make your payments on time, contacting the creditors on your own makes sense. In many cases, the companies will work will you rather than have to place a bad debt with an outside company and lose a large portion of the money you owe them.

Give up the Luxuries

The best way to get out of debt is to pay off the debt as soon as possible. Giving up on the luxuries such as dining out or buying large items and refraining from spending ensures you have that money to put towards your debt. Paying it off sooner also will help you to save money on the interest accumulated, as well.

Other Sources of Income

Another way to reduce your debt is to find another source of income. You may take on a second job or use your skills to provide services to another for a fee. You can also sell things around your home. Chances are good that if you you’ve lived in your current home for more than a couple of years, you have things in good condition that you don’t need but that someone else can use.

Having a lot of debt can weight heavy on your shoulders. Luckily, there are many ways to reduce your debt and start enjoying life once more.