If you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck and you feel like you never have enough money coming in to pay all of your bills on time, there are some things that you can do to help you get your money back on track. If you have some debt you are going to want to take care of all of that, especially if you want to have control of your money again. Debt can hang over your head and feel like the world on your shoulders.
There are ways to deal with debts, pay bills on time, and not go broke in the process of trying not to be broke. You just need to know what’s going out and what’s coming in. You can get a handle on it all, and here are some of the things that can help you.
Consolidate Your Debt
The first thing you should do in order to make a difference in your financial future, and your current financial position, is to get rid of any debts you might have, which could start with debt consolidation. Debt consolidation makes it so that you can pay off all of your debts with one lump monthly payment.
Debt isn’t the end of the world, but that’s only because you can do something about it. You don’t have to stay in debt, you just need to get your hands on your credit report and get it cleaned up. It’ll take some time, but it will be worth it when you have more control over your money.
Make A Payment List
Once you are on the path to being free of debt, it’s time to write up a payment list. You could get a notebook that you keep all of your bill info in, or just have a slip of paper, or maybe even have a dry erase board you hang on your wall (for changes in monthly credit card minimum payments or changes in what you’re making payments to).
Your list should include who you need to pay when your bill is due, and how much your bill is (on average anyway, when it comes to things like your electric bill). It will make it easy for you to take a look at what’s owed and when, and keep bills paid on time.
Schedule Recurring Payments
You might want to set up automatic payments. These will come directly out of whatever account you schedule them to. With some accounts, like your Netflix streaming, you might be able to hook up to an online payment site, like Paypal (if you often have money in that account).
However, you need to make sure you still don’t forget to subtract these payments out of your bank accounts. You don’t want overdrafts to get you into even more money troubles.