End Debt Now

There is NO debt issue that is unsolvable. We can take practical wise steps in moving on from any financial decisions that caused the debt and not have to pray for miracles each time!

The Royal College of Psychiatrists say:

• One in four people with a mental health problem is in debt
• One in two people in debt have a mental health problem
• Debt may be a cause and a consequence of mental health problems

According to the National Audit Office (NAO), 8.3 million people are unable to pay off their debts.

According to Northwestern Mutual’s 2018 Planning & Progress Study, the average American has $38,000 in debt excluding mortgages.

Debt occurs when our expenditure is greater than our income.  Often debt can be a vicious circle. We keep borrowing to reduce the debt.  In such cases debt becomes a life sentence.

We need to take control back of our finances so that debt does not hang over us like a dark cloud.  In the Good Book, Jesus preached many parables about finances, showing us the importance of being good stewards of money.

So in the first part of our series on How to End Debt, let us look at a couple of checklists:

#1 How much do we owe?

1. How many credit cards do you have? How much do you owe on each?
2. What is the balance on any outstanding loans?  (We have a list of loans below in section 2 for you to run through).
3. Do you use store cards?  How much is outstanding on these?
4. Don’t forget friends and family as these can bring tension!  How much do you owe these precious people?
5. Do you have any current payment plans?  Have you defaulted in any of these?
6. Have you defaulted in your mortgage or rent?  How much do you owe?
7. How much overdraft facility are you entitled to?  Have you gone beyond the limit? By how much?  If not, how much of your account is currently in overdraft?
8. Are you defaulting on any utility bills?
9. Are you defaulting on any insurance bills, plans, and so on?
10. Do you have other commitments such as child support, medical bills?

#2 What loans do we have?

1. Car loan
2. Home improvement loan
3. Student loan
4. Holiday loan
5. Business loan
6. Furniture loan
7. Other loans

#3 Consolidate what we have listed above as follows:

Date___________________

Congratulations on taking the first step to handling debt.  Many bury their head in the sand, even not opening letters. But you can only solve an issue when you address it head on.

Anyway, next time, we will look at how to get out of debt – some life hack tips!

Please share any tips of you have in the meanwhile and how you ended your debts…and thank you!

Here are some useful links that may help you deal with debt:

UK National Debtline

Consumer Counselling Credit Services

About The Author

Zoe

Zoe met Eze (Chuck) in the 14th year of what turned out to be an 18 year ‘journey’ with mental illness. They got married less than a year of meeting with Zoe fully knowing Chuck had a diagnosis of mental illness. In the 18th year, Chuck defied the odds of mental illness. A consultant psychiatrist signed him off the mental health system with a bill of NO MENTAL ILLNESS. The consultant was so amazed by Chuck’s astonishing recovery that he even questioned how Chuck was diagnosed with mental illness all those years before, in the first place! Today Chuck is free from medication, its dependency and hospitalizations. Zoe’s award nominated book, DEFYING THE ODDS, chronicles the highs and ‘lows’ of this journey. Zoe, often writing from the standpoint of a caregiver, clearly understands that mental illness does not only affect an individual challenged with the disease, but also families, marriages and society as a whole.

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