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Dealing With Accidental Debt

Not all debt will turn out to be your fault – despite the fact that many people see those who are struggling to get by as victims of their own actions. Given that so few families are prepared for a financial disaster, it’s not much of a surprise that when the proverbial hits the fan, the consequences can be devastating.

In this brief guide, we’re going to go through a few of the situations where it is clear that debt is incurred by accident – and how to protect yourself from, or repair, the damage. Let’s get started with the basics of accidental debt.

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Debt by accident

There are many ways you can fall onto hard times, and it can happen in an instant. Maybe you suffer from a serious injury or get hit by some maniac in a car. Perhaps you get made redundant or are fired by a boss that has never taken a shine to you. Or, maybe you have been struggling to get by on a low wage, and inflation comes into play. What costs you $150 in food shopping one week might end up costing you over $200 the next – putting your finances in great jeopardy. The simple truth is that we are all at risk of losing a significant part of our income at a moment’s notice, and it’s important to have some protections in place.

Insurance

So, the first step to take is to make sure you have proper insurance cover. Of course, this can be tricky, because you never know what might happen, and you can’t possibly predict when a grave accident or financial emergency will occur. However, you can play the odds.

Your health insurance, for example, needs to give you enough cover in the case of a nasty accident – otherwise, you will be facing enormous medical fees. Maybe you could get some unemployment insurance, or self-employed insurance to make sure that you are covered in the event of an illness or periods where you can’t work. Think carefully and do your research of insurance plans to ensure you are getting the best deal – for the best cover.

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Attorneys

Apparently, if an accident that causes you harm isn’t your fault – from a car crash or a medical malpractice incident, for example – you deserve compensation. But, as Hastings Law Firm point out, it can be tough to actually get what you deserve without the help of an aggressive and experienced attorney. Finding one could be the difference between a negligible payment and a comfortable rest of your life.

Education

Of course, all these accidental debt issues could be significantly reduced with the right financial knowledge. Sadly, however, this kind of stuff is rarely taught in schools – which is why we started this blog. It’s no real surprise that so many people get caught out with accidental debt when you bear this in mind and lack the knowledge to build up emergency funds and take a right financial precautions.

As you can see, anyone can get in debt by sheer accident – the big question is, do you have the knowledge and resources to survive if it happens to you?

Strategies For Tackling Debt – Which Is Best?

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As any financial expert or debt advisor will tell you, the way to approach tackling your financial woes is to take a systematic approach. However, there are a few different strategies you can employ on your quest to become debt free. Some will work well for you; others may not. But how can you tell which is best for you and your finances?

Today, we’re going to go through a broad range of debt-tackling strategies and explain everything you need to know. Let’s take a closer look at some of your options, and – we hope – point you in the right direction for the strategy best for your situation.

Debt Consolidation

Most debt experts will advise you that you should never consolidate your debts – or, at the very least, be incredibly careful about doing so. However, there are some benefits in going down this route as long as you do your research and choose the right path. For example, interest-free balance transfers can switch your debts so that you don’t pay any interest at all for a set period, meaning all the repayments go towards paying the debt off. However, given that you need a good credit score to enjoy interest-free balance transfers, it’s not always an option. In this case, you might try to look for bad credit loans and consolidate that way. Bear in mind that these can be expensive, so it’s important to work out whether consolidation is worth your while. It might be the case that tackling your debts individually is a more cost-efficient tactic. If you decide that this route is better, the following strategies might help.

The Avalanche

The avalanche method is where you pay off your debts one at a time, focusing on the debt with the highest interest – or highest balance – first. Once you have paid off your highest interest debt, you move onto the next highest, and so on. Using this method is thought to be useful as your higher interest debts will, ultimately, cost you more. However, if the debt is large, it can take a significant amount of time to pay it off, and it requires you to put a lot of money towards it if you want to see quick results.

The Snowball

The debt snowball method focuses on your smallest debts first. The idea here is to get rid of your debts in a systematic way, eliminating them one by one and feeling like you are making progress. Now, let’s take a look at some of the snowball and avalanche methods in more detail.

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APR Method

This method involves working out which creditor is charging you the highest annual percentage rate. You continue paying your minimum repayment to all other creditors, and put any spare money into the highest interest charger. Once you have cleared the first debt, you move onto the next – not forgetting to include your minimum repayment. As you pay off each debt, you can take the minimum payments from your old debts and add them to the next biggest debts, ‘snowballing’ your repayment amounts as you go along. By the time you start paying off your largest debts, you should have a significant sum of money set aside, and it should – in theory – take less time to clear.

Highest Balance Method

You can also consider the highest balance method to repay your debts. This strategy can work if you have a couple of big debts that seem impossible to erase. However, if you put every spare cent you have into tackling your most significant debt, it won’t take long to start seeing your results. Let’s say you have $5,000 on a credit card. If you could, for example, pay $200 a month, in a year’s time you will have whittled this down to $2,800, assuming you have managed to freeze all other interest charges. It’s a dramatic impact that has reduced your debt with that creditor by almost half.

Quick Win

When you keep getting bill after bill in the mail, debts can actually start impacting your life and wellbeing. And it’s always difficult to know where to start. There is a solution, however – go down the quick win route. Using this strategy puts your focus on eliminating your easiest debts first – the ones with the lowest number of repayments left. If there are two debts with similar end dates, tackle the one with the higher monthly payment. While this strategy might cost you more in the long-term than, say, the APR method, it will still give you a sense of momentum. And, most importantly, reduce the number of debts you have far quicker than the other strategies.

Low Balance

Similar to the quick win strategy, the small balance method involves tackling easy debts first – the ones with the least amount of money outstanding. Removing these irritating small debts gives you a sense of momentum, and you can then collate all the minimum repayment monies and use them to tackle the bigger problem areas. If you are struggling to pay off your debts, it’s a strategy worth considering as research shows it is often the most successful.

The family loan

Finally, consider borrowing money from a family member or trusted friend. There are a few reasons why this can work for both parties. First of all, let’s take a look at this strategy from your family member’s point of view. If your mom or dad has, say, money in a standard savings account, the chances are that they aren’t earning lots of interest on it. So, you could offer them a better deal over a set period of time, while still enjoying a lower interest rate than you are currently paying your creditors. This strategy is like a super-charged consolidation plan, as everyone on your side of the fence wins – and you get to pay off your creditors in one hit. It’s always worth doing this as the sooner you can repay your problem debts, the sooner you can start rebuilding your credit score and reducing the impact on your lifestyle and borrowing power.

Financial Life Lessons Every Parent Should Teach Their Children

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People say that knowledge is power, but what if you don’t posses the knowledge you need to succeed? The unfortunate answer is that you won’t succeed, at least not to the level that you desire. If that is a scary thought, it gets even scarier when you apply it to your children. Every parent wants their kids to lead a happy and prosperous life, so every parent needs to impart wisdom along the way. There are some things that they don’t teach at school, and that is where you step in and fill in the gaps. Finance is probably the best example, which is why you’ll find the best financial tips to teach your kids below.

Wait For The Right Moment

Kids are impulsive and want everything as soon as possible. Hell, there are a lot of adults that fit into that category too. But, there is a problem with this way of thinking: it leads you to make financial mistakes. Have you ever wondered why some people are in mountains of debt? The easy answer is that they have bitten off more than they can chew. Of course, everyone wants nice things like a car or a house, but they shouldn’t come at the expense of a family’s future. The sooner children learn they have to wait, the better the decisions they will make with in the future.

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Don’t Be Scared Of Big Decisions

The big decisions aren’t ones to fear; they are ones to cherish. The great thing about making big decisions is that they often have the biggest rewards. Take buying a house as an example. To buy one, most people need to take out a mortgage. Since the crash in 2008, the term mortgage isn’t one that fills people with trust. In fact, lots of people think that a mortgage is a bad idea. The truth is that a mortgage is essential as long as you understand it inside and out. Nowadays, that is a lot easier to do when you go online at CalMtg.com and other mortgage professionals. With the right amount of patience and confidence, your children’s finances will never be in doubt.

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Save, Save, And Save Some More

Okay, so it isn’t a great time to save especially now interest rates are lower than before. Still, there will come a time when they will rise, and your children will want to take advantage. Although spending is more fun, saving is the practical option. It is the financial tip that will ensure your kids will always have money for a rainy day. Excuse the cliché, but it is true. Parents can’t always bail their kids out when they are in too deep, and kids need to learn this important life lesson. Putting away a little every month is a great way to create a buffer, and if it doesn’t come in handy they can spend it on a holiday.

The above is only a small glimpse into the big bad world of finance. Even so, a little bit of knowledge can go a long way.

Delightfully Simple Ways To Dodge Debt Your Entire Life

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Some people think that owing money in life is basically inevitable. It’s easy to understand why some individuals have this mindset because a lot of people are in debt. In fact, it’s estimated that around eight percent of the country’s population are in some form of debt right now. Not just in debt but struggling to pay it back. Don’t forget it is possible to be in debt and be able to manage it. For instance, any time you have a house with a mortgage you will be in debt to the mortgage lender. But that doesn’t mean that you’re in a debt spiral, suddenly unable to handle your finances. That said, it is entirely possible to completely avoid debt through your entire life. Just because most people experience it at some point doesn’t mean that you have to. Debt is a nightmare, and it’s time to snap out of it and wake up.

Budget Budget Budget

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There is no one living in this world right now who can afford not to live on a budget. Even the richest one percent have budgets, they just have larger expenses. In many ways, this makes a budget even more important. So, if you live in a nice house and you’re on a lovely income, you might not think that you need to budget. But that’s a mistake because eventually you’ll overspend and end up in financial trouble. When that happens, you’ll have no choice but to borrow. Immediately, your time of living without the trouble of debt will have come to an end. Budgeting is just a matter of working out how much you make, how much you spend and using the difference to buy things you want.

If You Borrow…

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Make sure that you can afford the cost of the loan. There’s no issue with borrowing per se. The only problem is if the interest rate is so high that you can’t actually afford to pay it back. Then you end up in a debt spiral. So, only take out low-interest rate loans that you’ll know you’ll be able to pay back. Again, it’s a budgeting exercise. Work out how much you need to borrow and when you’ll be able to pay it back. Use a lender like Credit24, and you’ll be able to make sure you can always pay back any money that you take out.

Credit Cards Are Bad News, Avoid Them

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Finally, we need to talk about credit cards. Credit cards are just a way to trick people into living past their means spending more than they can afford. If you want to avoid debt, you need to make sure that you never bother applying for a credit card. This probably sounds easier said than done because there are plenty of massive expenses in life. We’ve just gone through Christmas, and there are probably a lot of parents with expensive credit card bills. You don’t have to be one of them. Instead, you can save through the year and avoid buying on credit altogether. No debt, no credit bills, no problem. If you buy on credit, you’re really just cheating yourself. You can’t afford to make the purchase, and the money you’re spending isn’t actually yours.

Smart Ways To Keep Your Finances In Check This January

The festive season is a time of indulgence and luxuries, but in January it’s time to tighten the purse strings. Your finances might not be looking too healthy right now, but a bit of careful planning will mean you’re soon back on track. Here are a few things to consider for your finances this January.

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Tighten The Purse Strings

If you’ve overspent last month or accumulated some debt then now is the time to rectify this. Cut back on anything that’s not essential and use the money where it’s most needed, this will help you to quickly get back on track financially. January might be considered as a ‘clean slate’, but if you’re bringing through debt from Christmas, this should be addressed as quickly as possible.

Set Some Goals

We have a whole twelve months stretching out ahead of us. What are you going to achieve financially during this time? Maybe you want to pay off debt or save towards a summer holiday. Perhaps you want to start saving for a new car or a mortgage, or you just aim to plan your money better each month. Whatever it is, write down what you hope to achieve and then break each goal down into smaller and easy to achieve chunks. For example, if you want to plan your money better you could begin by writing out all of your income and expenditures and invest in a calendar or budgeting app to plan everything out. If you want to be debt free by December, you could work out exactly how much you’ll need to pay off each month.

Protect Yourself From Injury

The last thing you need after a financially draining Christmas is to be injured and out of work. Sometimes accidents and incidents are out of your control, but there are lots of precautions you can take against others. The start of the year is particularly bad for these kinds of things since the cold weather can lead to hazardous snow and ice. When travelling by road, you can drive safely and carefully- making sure your car is as safe as possible. Checking all of the fluid levels and switching the tyres to winter snow and ice tyres are some of the ways you can go about this. When walking in public in winter, ensure you are wearing sensible footwear with a good grip to prevent slips. If you’re injured due to the neglect of a company, putting in a personal injury claim will mean the compensation covers any medical expenses and time taken off work, so you don’t end up out of pocket. Companies like BHP law can provide experienced personal injury solicitors if you end up in this situation.

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Make the right decisions now, and you will set yourself up for a happy and prosperous new year. When it’s cold outside, and the weather is bad, it’s the perfect chance to tighten the belt and make cutbacks anyway. By the spring, you should be in a much better position financially.