|
|
 |
Before going further
Before going further, have you tried to…
Rework your budget / Budget counselling
Preparing a budget and planning your spending means making choices and sticking
to them. For instance, if you have not planned to buy furniture or clothing
or to travel, then don't. By following your budget, you will find
it easier to control your spending, to pay for essentials before anything
else, and to free up some money each month to repay your debts. You will
slowly
find that you have more money available, especially as your debts
disappear.
To learn more…
Consolidate your debts
A debt consolidation loan is a single loan (ideally from a financial
institution)
that allows you to repay your debts to several or all of your creditors at
once. You are then left with only one outstanding loan – to the
financial
institution. In addition to streamlining your debts into a single payment,
a debt consolidation loan may also offer you an interest rate that is lower
than that charged by your creditors, saving you money
in interest charges. To learn more…
Contacting your creditor(s)
Making arrangements with your creditors is a way to ease your debt
repayments. Draw up a list of
your creditors, then contact each one with a proposal for either a
reduction in your payments,
an extended deferral of your debts, or a reduced rate of interest (or all
three).
You can also ask a debt management program advisor such as a trained
budget/credit counsellor to do this on your behalf. To
learn more…
Selling one of your assets / possessions
While not always easy to do, selling an asset can alleviate a difficult
financial situation. An asset is something that you own (that you do not
owe
money on). If your budget cannot be adjusted (your income
cannot be increased and your expenses cannot be cut back), you may decide
to sell anything of value that you
are willing to part with such as a house, a car, a television, in order to
get your debt down to a manageable size. To learn
more…
Warning Signs of
Debt | Before going further | "Last resort"
options |
Information on collection
agencies | Credit and Credit
Repair | Resources for
educators
|
