Many people around the world find that as their life and family expands, their finances gradually get away from them and they lose control. Suddenly after years and years of hard work, you find yourself, owing somebody else money. Nobody wants to be in this situation, and it would be brilliant of debt could just magically disappear. It’s a scary thing to contemplate if you look too negatively at the conundrum. Your paycheck is cut immediately by how much you know you owe a company or bank, therefore, the money left available for everything else is smaller. This has a knock-on effect with your everyday living standard and can be monstrously stressful if you have a family to support. It’s so easy to get frustrated and allow the weight of debt to crush your spirit, but that’s not what a fighter does. With the proper knowledge, and focus on the detail, your current system can be flipped, contoured and streamlined so that getting out of debt isn’t like climbing out of a well.
Credit – stevepb
Confront your situation
When you’re in debt, denial can set in as a coping mechanism to help you with your mental stability. Technically speaking, there’s no such thing as austerity, because the term and concept refer to simply living within your means. You cannot go on as you have, cutting costs isn’t just going to have to be part of your life, it’s going to become your lifestyle for the foreseeable future. It’s best to sit down and write out the things you believe you don’t regard as essential and work out how and if you cut them out of your expenses.
Calculate your income, expenditure and the payments you owe every month. Try only to include savings accounts that are for household or sudden financial emergencies and keep your life savings accounts out of the picture. By working out your salary and the amount your owe, together with the interest rate and the extra that will be added on by the percentage, you can make a timetable. This timetable will show you how many months and weeks of your current income it will take to finally be clean of all debt. 
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Multiple paths of payment
Don’t see debt as the monster under the bed, tackle it head on in a calm collected manner. Make a conscious decision to stop borrowing money. You’re fiscally contradicting the entire purpose of trying to live a life without a deficit, by borrowing money, to pay off debt, which in turn, adds another plateau of debt. Equally, you should not be borrowing money to fund your lifestyle; this means you must stop signing up for credit cards and stop using them.
Automatic deductions are a scheme you can opt for with your bank, that will automatically take money out of your account, to make payments to those you owe. This will help you avoid superfluous spending and staying well within the margins of accumulating savings. It will also reduce your everyday spending, by giving you a more accurate picture of your budget.
You can also streamline the amount of outgoing money from your bank account by consolidating multiple payments into one scheme. This can actually, believe it or not, save you money as there are companies that centralise risk, and give you an opportunity to improve the reliability of making the monthly agreed payment. However, as the market for these type of schemes and specifically designed loan arrangements are tricky, it’s a good idea to be wary of debt consolidation scams. Some plans may sound good in the short-term sense, but some consolidation loans are actually made so that you supply information of what you owe, and a sum total is offered to you. These companies don’t expect you to be so ready to pay them back. Therefore the interest rates are fluctuating and demanding. Other consolidation loans, will actually pile all of your debts into one payment scheme as aforementioned.
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Budget in the realm of reality
Start smart saving. Every aspect of your life must be kept within budget, this includes large things like car payments, household repairs, right down to making sure clothes last longer and your grocery shopping is frugal. The easiest way to break a fiscal routine is because it’s not realistic. Cutting too hard too fast, is irresponsible, especially if you have a family. The key is to ride the wave, and not smash into it.
Start to use public transport for trips that are not vital. If you have a car, buying gas is a persistent demand on your wallet, therefore, apart from getting to and back from work, use the bus or train. When you’re grocery shopping, refrain from buying brands and go for the cheaper option which isn’t as expensive. Stock up on carbohydrates, such as bread, pasta and rice. These ingredients can be the base of countless meals. Moreover, all you need to make a delicious meal is to add a side to these products to get a new flavor each time, yet still have the same filling, meal size.
The basics of saving money in the house are to turn lights off when leaving the room. Turn appliances off if they’re not needed or in use. Ask yourself, do you really need your shower or bath to be piping hot, or could you make do with lukewarm water instead? Rather than relying on a washing machine, clean your plates and cutlery by hand and in soapy water in your sink. Dishwashers need many liters of hot water for each cycle, so bear the cost in mind.
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Cutting luxuries
Try not to buy lunch at work, and make sure to take a packed lunch with you. Consider if you could change your broadband provider, and rather than an expensive but fast service, opt for an affordable and comprehensive package. Cancel any memberships, such as a gym or online newspaper subscription. Perhaps this year is the year you don’t go on holiday or vacation. These are some of the most expensive itineraries any family can go on, so instead, go to the park, have a picnic or a cookout with relatives as a way to relax. Don’t buy luxury goods; this could be anything, such as high-quality handcrafted chocolate candy, or presents for special occasions. Don’t order takeaway meals by giving into temptation.