Borrowing money is easy. It’s making the repayments that can sometimes be difficult.
Posted by admin on Mar 7, 2010 in Uncategorized | 0 comments
“Borrowing money is easy. It’s making the repayments that can sometimes be difficult. You might find you have overcommitted yourself or your circumstances have changed and you can no longer afford to meet your credit repayments. If this happens, it’s important that you don’t ignore the problem and hope it goes away, because it won’t.”
(Consumer Affairs Australia)
I was just web-browsing the other day when I came upon this quote. It is four sentences which perfectly detail the story of a bankruptcy or financial hardship victim – how they began to how they end up.
Unfortunately when your debts go bad it is up to you to pay it off. Most bad debts don’t happen overnight so set your debt alarm on and do something about it before it’s too late! A few things that should put your debt alarm on caution mode:
• If you are still paying for something you expected to pay off eons ago.
• If you are only paying off your minimum monthly credit card balance (either because you’re using the rest of the money on buying more stuff, or because you really can’t afford to pay anymore per month).
• If all your credit cards are maxed out and you just applied for another one.
• If your entire pay cheque is spent on paying off your debts to the point there’s nothing left, and for a prolonged period of time.
If your debt alarm is ringing like crazy now then let me tell you: borrowing more money is not the solution. Tempting as it may be to borrow more money to temporarily hide the problem, you’re just, in fact, digging yourself a bigger and deeper hole. The bigger and deeper the hole gets, the closer you are to having financial problems and ultimately – bankruptcy. The best solution to get you out of that debt hole is to take notice of it early (if it’s still possible), be open about your financial situation (yes, about your debts too), and get help! That miracle may not drop down on you but you could make it happen.
Some useful websites for debt and bankruptcy:
Consumer Credit Code legislation info
Consumer protection in Australia
FIDO at the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) website
Financial Counsellors’ Association of NSW INC