The Truth About Personal Finance...

Did you know that almost 80% of Americans are in Debt? According to a report from Pew Charitable Trusts- the most regularly held form is mortgage debt (44%), followed by unpaid credit card balances (39%), car loans (37%), and student loans (21%).

If you’re accumulating debt, the best thing you can do is focus on managing your credit and debt well.

Below are tips to help you tackle your debt!

Rank debts smallest to largest:

The one big key to paying off your debt is knowing where you are. Start by reviewing your bills and list your debts from smallest to largest.

Then, list them in order from highest interest rate to smallest interest rate. Since the one with the highest interest rate is costing you the most money, that's the one you want to pay off first.

Create a realistic budget:

A good place to start is to take a look at your last month's expenses from bank or credit card statements. To organize your expenses, you may write it on paper, use an Excel spreadsheet or an app such as Mint to budget your expenses. Make certain your budget never exceeds your income. If it does, there might be some items you'll need to cut.

Sell any unnecessary items:

Do you have items that you really don't need? If so the items could be sold to pay off your debts and decrease your financial burden. You could host a garage sale, sell items to a consignment shop, or sell items on eBay.

Endnotes

http://www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/assets/2015/07/reach-of-debt-report_artfinal.pdf?la=en