Having debt out of control is one of the ways to make your life more stressful than what it would normally be. You may be afraid to answer the phone in fear that you have a debt collector calling you, or you may be having trouble buying simple things in your life due to all the debt that you are in. However, for every one person that realizes that they are in debt and that this is out of control, there are double that amount who do not realize that they have an issue.
[Read: Nine Tips for a Debt Consolidating Loan]
Signs that your Debt is No Longer in your Control
There are several signs that point to having debt out of control resulting in your financial portfolio being less than stellar. However, many people are not facing the true situation. They refuse to see that their debt could be getting larger than what they should feel comfortable with. The following are five signs that showcase how a person can tell if debt out of control is an issue for them:
- You are in denial. You may not think that you have a debt issue, but look at the way in which you are dealing with your debt. Do you avoid talking about how much debt you really have? Do you dodge phone calls? Do you neglect bills because you do not have the money? In these cases, you are in denial about your debt.
- When do you want to be debt free? If you have no date in mind and just say at some point in your life your debt will be back in line, or if you simply state that the debt will follow you until you die, then you are suffering with debt out of control that is more of your life than it should be.
- You are the king or queen of the balance transfer. This is something that many people who have debt out of control are doing. They take out another credit card to transfer the balance to, and then repeat this for many years to come. The person does not realize that they are simply prolonging their debt.
- Are you paying on debt instead of saving? This s something that many people do, as they are trying to pay their debt off, but they are sacrificing their savings in order to do this. This is a huge sign that the debt is taking up more of your life than it should be, you are someone with debt out of control.
- Do you have anxiety about the debt that you do have? If this is the case, then this could signal that your debt is becoming too much, a sign that you are in too much debt.
How to Get a Handle on Debt that is Out of Control
There are several methods that you can utilize in order to ensure that debt out of control is no longer an issue that you have to worry about. The following are a few suggestions to get you started:
- Take the time to analyze just how much debt that you have. You will want to start listing the debt, the day in which they should be paid and how much you should pay. Be sure that you are paying the minimums.
- Prioritize your debts to pay off faster. You will want to pay on those that have the highest interest rate first, and devote whatever extra that you can in order to get this debt paid off faster. You then move onto the next, and the next until you have no debt at all.
- Have a sheet of just what you income you are bringing in and just how much of this you can devote to paying off your debt. Even if you can only afford a few dollars extra, any amount is going to help to control debt out of control.
- Set a date that you want to be debt free, though be sure that you are making this realistic. Then aim to hit this date as close as possible or even before the date.
- Do not utilize balance transfers, as you are simply spreading the debt from one to the next, and this is not going to help you get out of debt any faster.
- Consider debt consolidation if you feel that you are coming to the point in which you can no longer control the debt. This can help you to consolidate the debt into one lower payment per month.
- Bankruptcy is an option, however, this should be used as a last resort. Bankruptcy can affect your credit rating for several years to come, and be something that you cannot get away of for seven to ten years.
[Read: Debt You Can Handle]
For those who believe that they do not have a debt issue, though they show signs of having more debt that they can control, then it is best to start getting debt under control. The more that you take control of your debt now, the better your future will be. Without taking action though, your debt is going to take over and control your life.