Nine Ways to Reduce Your Debt
 How well do you sleep at night? Are you up late worrying about your finances? If you find it difficult to make ends meet financially or to start saving for the future, you may benefit from free financial coaching services available through MINES & Associates, your company’s employee assistance program provider.
Whether a financial coach helps you to create a plan to pay it down or you tackle the debt on your own, here are some suggestions.
Figure Out How Much You Owe. Take out your credit card and loan statements and list the balance, the interest rate and the monthly minimum payment of each card and loan. List the card with the highest interest rate first, follow it with the card with the next highest interest rate, and so on.
Keep the two cards with the lowest interest rates and use them only in an emergency. Close out the other accounts so you won’t be tempted to use them. Check first with the credit card companies to avoid paying a higher interest rate on the outstanding debt once the account is closed.
Vow not to use credit cards anymore. Put the remaining credit cards in a bowl of water in the freezer to make it very difficult to use them. Resolve to make all purchases with cash or debit cards.
Make minimum payments on all debt except for the one with the highest interest rate. Pay as much as you can on this card to pay it off as quickly as possible. After the card with the highest interest rate is paid, concentrate your efforts on paying down the next highest card.
When you pay off one debt, such as an auto loan, continue to make that monthly payment. But put it towards paying off your other debts instead.
Put the list of debts where you’ll see it every day. As you pay off each debt, cross it out and you’ll feel great!
Avoid late charges and over-the-limit fees. They can keep you from making any headway in paying off the debt.
Ask for a lower interest rate. Call your current company and ask them to lower the interest rate that you are paying. They’ll usually work with you to avoid losing you as a customer.
Get help if you need it. You’ll have more success when support and accountability are built into the plan. A financial coach can help. For free help, call MINES and request an appointment with Michelle.
Source
Michelle Pastor, MBA and Accredited Financial Counselor
Michelle is available through your EAP for free financial coaching. Request an appointment with Michelle by calling MINES at 800-873-7138.
About MINES & Associates
For 30 years, MINES & Associates has been a nationally recognized business psychology firm that provides a variety of services to corporate employers, including: employee assistance programs (EAP), managed behavioral healthcare, organizational development and psychology services, wellness programs, behavioral risk management, disease management, PPO services, and a number of other technology based services.
Please log on to http://www.minesandassociates.com for
the latest news and information on MINES & Associates.
Click
here for back issues.
|
Sign in to your PersonalAdvantage page - an online benefit that is here to assist you and your family on
everyday issues, health and well-being, emotional health, workplace health, stress and much more.
Here you will find many resources including articles, videos, assessments, calculators, and self-search
locators for child care and elder care.
Sign in to your MINES legal/financial benefit - a source that will provide you with a wealth of resources including tax preparation asssistance,
will preparation, "do-it-yourself" legal forms, and directions for consulting a network attorney and/or financial counselor for a free 30-minute
consultation per separate issue, plus a 25% discount on futher legal services.
|
Newsletters