Plan For Debt Relief

Many people are looking for ways to decrease their spending, increase their earnings, and regain financial control. Times may be tough from time to time, but there are ways to prevent or get out of debt. Here are a few strategies for making your plan to become debt free.

Outline Your Goals

The first step in any plan is to outline your goals. Do you need to eliminate credit card debt? What plans do you have to increase your savings? What objectives do you have for growing your savings account? Do you have growing debts that need addressing before you can plan for saving? Are there any assets or income at risk of repossession or foreclosure? Use these questions and think of your own questions to help you to develop these into steps of action.

Create Action Steps

Once you have your goals outlined, list them in order of importance. If you have any debts that are tied to assets or at risk of being lost to creditors, these are your priority debts. Other debts, such as unsecured medical debts and some credit card debts, may be best addressed later in your plan. Next, list the total debt owed and re-rank them by highest balance.

There are several debt repayment strategies that may also be an ideal first step in your plan; such as the “snowball” method. In this method, you focus all extra income towards your highest balance debt first until paid off. You repeat this process with each subsequent debt until you reach your goal.

A sure sign not to wait and try getting out of debt by yourself is if you have secured debts that are tied to assets, or at risk of losing property. If your unpaid debts are tied to collateral, stop planning and consult with a Dallas bankruptcy attorney. Your attorney can stop debt collections, while protecting your property through bankruptcy exemption laws.

Consult an Attorney

Unfortunately, debt relief plans have no one-size-fits-all approach. Your financial situation is unique, and that should be carefully considered before consolidating debts through a loan, or negotiating with creditors. If you want to get out of debt while minimizing any impact to potential assets, consult with a Dallas bankruptcy attorney for professional guidance.