Debt Management
PCSolve is pleased to announce that it has received 2 Free copies of the following ebooks, Credit Score The Quintessential Therapy For A Happy Pocket and Debt Consolidation Sample Letters For Free from Debt Consolidation Care .com Everyone needs some advice from time to time, where debt is concerned sometimes it's hard to admit that we need help, trust me I know.
Go to our Free Books Page and click on Debt Management to download these FREE ebooks now.
Other Sources of Debt Help
CCCS - Consumer Credit Counselling Service - Charity run and there are no hidden costs. This organisation can create a debt management plan for you and then deals with your creditors. The plan allows you to pay creditors back at a rate and period that suits you.
So how is it FREE? They take your payment at the start of the month and then process payments to your creditors at the end of the month, meanwhile your payments earns interest for them, what a great idea.
Debt Advice Bureau - Informative site with lots of information on IVAs, DMPs etc. They offer to set up a debt management plan with you, for FREE.
PCSolve do not endorse any of these sites, however we would encourage you to take a look at them and search the net (See our Google Search above) for others as debt can ruin your life if you don't deal with it quickly.
How do I know if I need help?
The first and hardest step is to admit you have a problem with your finances. The usual signs for this can be answered by the following questions:
1. Are you paying your creditors more than you earn?
2. Do you panic every time the letter box goes in case it's another request for payment?
3. Are you using credit to pay for your essentials e.g. Fuel, Food and clothes?
4. Do you have sleepless nights, thinking about how to pay your bills?
5. Do you feel there is no way out of it?
6. Do you feel that it's not worth earning money as you are not seeing any of it?
If you can answer YES to one or more of the questions then there is more than likely a problem.
The next step is to deal with it, the more you put it off the worse it gets. I can speak from experience and I am more than willing to admit that I have cursed myself for being so stupid as to get myself in that position, however as my debt advisor told me when I made that first call, "Sir, please look at your Client Number, (around 167,500) that is roughly how many clients we have or have been with us, so you are not the first and certainly won't be the last"
I have been brought up in a family where credit was a last resort and should have heeded my parents advice and I can say for the first few years of my working life I was very sensible when it came to credit. Used properly and wisely credit is a very useful tool, however circumstances usually take over your better judgement and you can find yourself in a very dire position. In my case I used it for comfort after the death of my son and found that buying items I liked helped, briefly! Eventually I could answer YES to all the questions above and had to take the bull by the horns and deal with it, that first step was the hardest and can honestly say that I cried after taking it, more in relief than frustration. I felt as if a great weight had been lifted and that my future was less in doubt.
I am now about 4 years into my debt management plan and I can tell you that I have paid back over half of what I owed, however it will not be plain sailing, there will still be calls from your creditors and sometimes letters, some creditors are better than others. What is important is that you are paying it back, always remember that. With some schemes they tell you that you can pay back some of what you owe and after 5 years what remains will be written off, however please bear in mind that this is not the same as paying it all back and the credit reference agencies will take this into account in the future. In my case at the end I can request a letter of satisfaction and know they have received every penny I owed them.
Taking that first step and making the call is important, not only to you but also to your family and your future, I often considered that my family would be better off without me as my life insuurance was worth more than my life and would certainly have paid what I owed. After making my call I discovered that I could still live a life and pay what I owe, albeit over a period of time but at a rate that still left me able to pay my important bills.
One of the hardest things when you are so far in debt is seeing a way out, as usually you can't. What has been done for me means that I don't have to look any more, they have done it for me and as a charity they don't make me pay for this and therefore everything I pay them goes to my creditors. Their primary concern is you and your family and they make you face up to facts and take a long hard look at what you spend. They account for essential items like food, gas, mortgage etc even before seeing how much you can pay to your debt. Then they arrange with your creditors the rate at which you can pay them back with what's left. The pure genius about this is that they are all in one place and you don't have to deal with lots of different companies as it is done for you, one payment every month and they pay your creditors, what's more is that if you do it in time you will not get CCJs against you.
Please remember you are not alone in this, there are many people suffering the same issues around the world, all for different reasons, what is important is to admit the problem and deal with it, I can honestly say that now I have done it I feel relieved and free.
What a great sense it was when I was able to make my first CASH purchase and know that it belonged to me and I did not owe anything to anyone else. Sure I still have moments where I would like to take a credit agreement and buy my big Plasma Telly, but I look more seriously now and have to rationalise whether I really need it and whether I can afford it. I don't feel that my life is on hold anymore, it is now my life and I can live it with my family and friends without worrying about how I am going to pay it back, purely because if I don't have it I can't spend it.
It has also led me to look at my finances more seriously and I even keep a spreadsheet that calculates my spending for me and every time I spend it goes in and tells me whether I have enough money left for other things, because it runs for a year at a time you can even budget from it and it tells me if I can make a purchase. (If anyone wants a copy please email me).
Finally I would just like to say Please, Please seek the help you need if you feel that you cannot cope with your debts. You don't have to be embarrased or ashamed, what's more important is to deal with it before it consumes you. There are very few people that don't have debt and some can manage better than others, but when you feel that it has overrun you that is the time to get help.
If anyone wants to discuss any items in private please email me and I will be glad to help if I can.
posted by PCSolve eBooks @ 3:27 PM
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