Voluntary Benefits Articles and Publications

Do you need some debt relief? You have lots of company in this situation. Here are some tips on how to help yourself.

1 - Stop Paying With Credit Cards

The place to start is by locking away the credit cards and figuring out how to cut expenses back to function within your income. Figure out ways to increase your income and pay cash instead. This is the one action that jump-starts your program to get out of debt. This step is critical to your program if you truly want to be debt free.

2 - Never Commit to Spending More Than Your Company's Income

Using credit to purchase something commits your company's future income to the credit card company. Then you experience economic slavery. Ask yourself if you just want the item or if you really need it to increase the production of income. If you really need it to produce more income, figure out how to make the cash to pay for it over a short period of time, rather than buying on credit. Find ways to increase the company's income and use it to pay both current expenses and pay off credit debt.

3 - Never Pay Just The Minimum Payment Amount Required

Your debt reduction program will be most effective if you carve out a minimum of 10% to 15% of your income, and use this money to reduce the debt. Set a target of paying 3 to 5 times the minimum monthly payment on every credit card. Set aside some of the payment money each week before the statements arrive in the mail. It's always easier to put aside small amounts over a 4 week period than to find enough to pay a big bill all at once.

Your debt reduction program should also include the strategy of paying more on the highest interest rate card. Another strategy is paying off low balance cards as fast as possible. This will free up more cash to pay against the higher interest rate cards.

4 - Never Pay Late or Spend Over Your Limit

Never sabotage your debt reduction program by getting hit with $25 to $39 over-the-limit or late fees plus the interest on those fees. Plus, if you pay over 30 days late, your credit record carries that big black mark against you for 7 years - a whopper of a penalty.

In a news report, a Vice President of a U.S. bank recently said that in excess of 24 Billion dollars was paid in the past year on credit cards for over-limit fees, late payment charges and interest. I hope you don't think the credit company minds too much if you go over your spending limit or mail your payment late. They collected billions because of it.

5 - Find Ways To Cut Expenses

A requirement of a debt reduction program is more cash as fast as possible to pay the debt off. Look closely at what your company income is being spent on and cut back on any expenses that do not contribute to increasing the income. Before you spend, evaluate how much money that item is going to return to your company.

TIP: Always keep promoting your products and services to everyone - this is one area you don't want to stop spending on. Just make sure you are getting a handsome financial return on the promotional investment.

Correctly managing the money in a business to ensure its survivalguarantee it will survive takes more than a debt reduction program, but this is a really good place to start. There are other steps that can be taken to increase the company's income, pay bills on time, have cash reserves for emergencies, increase profitability and pay yourself a bigger paycheck. Who doesn't want that, right?

Sandra Simmons, President of Money Management Solutions, has years of experience helping professionals and private individuals manage their money to eliminate debt. To find out about the Money Management Software she created, visit her website and watch the FREE 5-minute demo video at www.MoneyMgmtSolutions.com