As any debt advisor will tell you, getting into debt is easy – getting out of it however is another case, which is where debt counselling South Africa comes in. These services offer one of the most practical and effective ways to help you manage your debt and avoid the serious consequences of bad debt, from court summons to fines, repossession or even total bankruptcy. If you think that your debts have gotten out of control, and are not managing to make your monthly repayments, then it is time to consider debt relief as a manageable and life-saving solution to debt problems.
Even once you take that first step however, the process does not end there. To truly learn how to get rid of your debt, you will need to learn how to prevent them from piling up once again. Learning effective budging and spending habits is the only way that you can take control over your life and prevent excessive debt from ruining your life.
Some of the top tips offered by debt counselling South Africa experts include the following:
Cut up your credit cards and retail outlet cards and aim to pay off the accounts for good. When you reach a point where you have become over-indebted, it is time to stop using credit and start paying up these debts for once and for all. The urge to use credit will be far stronger when you are trying to save and spend wisely, and there will be times that you may be tempted to use your card. Cutting all cards up is the best way to avoid temptation to buy on credit.
Work with your debt counsellor and be honest about your living costs. Omitting information or over-stating costs will not help you in the long run, and can only cause more problems down the line. Your counsellor is there to help you, and unless you are willing to deal with creditors directly and be forced to pay everything that you owe upfront, then realise that debt relief is there to help you manage your financial life in a way that allows you to pay only what you can afford.
Learn how to budget properly each month. Setting a budget may be a challenge, and keeping to it is even more difficulty, but at this point, your budget is essential in order to know exactly how much you spend on everything you need to live, from food to rent, bills and other costs. Going on a spending spree or even getting that new TV that you’re been wanting will only result in problems – especially when you cannot afford to live beyond your means.
Learn how to save money wherever you can. This is not as hard as it may seem, and after a while you will find that it comes naturally to save. This doesn’t mean using any of your precious income to set aside – not at this point anyway. Instead, what it means is buying discounted items, shopping at discount outlets, eating in rather than eating out, watching movies at home rather than in cinemas, taking cooked lunches to work and only buying things that you truly need.
Start rethinking your approach to money – very wealthy and successful people are sensible with their money, and have learnt how to invest their wealth wisely. The secret to growing wealth and preventing debt in the future is to save as much as you can, avoid accounts and credit and try to earn more than you spend. If you can learn how to get this approach right, then you will be able to avoid the need for debt counselling South Africa for good once you are debt-free once again.
