Having many years of experience with credit debt collections I want to share my thoughts on how to best pay the bills when there isn’t enough money to go around.
With today’s economy being the way it is many Americans have found themselves overextended on their credit obligations. Often when someone feels like there is too much month and not enough money they find themselves working harder to save every bit of liquid cash they have left. When faced with unexpected situations it is hard to make a rational decision on the spot; most of us forget to weigh out the consequences or use common sense.
If you are unable to pay a bill on time, I’m going to start with some simple steps here first. I suggest you consider withholding payments from items that have no interest, late fees, or report to your credit. A few examples of those monthly bills could be cable or satellite TV, internet, cell or home phone, electricity or gas, and water. Now please don’t quote me for saying they don’t charge extra for being late, but at least if you are there won’t be any interest compounded on their late fee like a credit card company. Most people probably don’t think to miss one of these bills in fear of having it turned off, but a majority of them will not take this action until 60 or 90 days of delinquency, and will usually give you fair warning before disconnection. Also these accounts do not report on your credit each month, they use your credit to turn on the service and will only show a delinquent account if you never ever pay them again.
These steps should only be taken when you are working off a budget and the unexpected bill arrives. There could be serious consequences if you are attempting to rob Peter to pay Paul and execute this method so please be careful.
In my next blog I will discuss the implications of late credit card bills, auto loans, and home mortgages so stay connected and follow me! www.twitter.com/debtadvice
[...] is a common question people ask when they can’t afford to meet all their bills each month. In a previous post I outlined a few steps one could take to avoid compounding interest on late fees or credit marks; [...]
By: Having a monthly budget is a common way to fix money problems. « Common Sense Credit and Debt Advice Blog on October 14, 2009
at 4:14 pm