Many people run into problems from time to time where they lose a job or suffer from an illness that causes them a serious unplanned hardship. Unfortunately, when this happens they are often unable to stay on top of their monthly expenses and their credit drops dramatically. If you are going through a similar scenario you know how hard it is to climb out from underneath. Luckily, there are ways to reduce your expenses and free up monies so that you can get back on track.
Revisiting your monthly utility, cable and cell phone bills
If you have a cell phone and a cable service provider you can more than likely cut these bills down by 20% or more. If you have unused minutes each month on your cell phone now would be a great time to switch to another plan. If you are already on the lowest plan offered, then shop around to check the rates and plan options of other companies.
The same goes with your cable bill. Are you watching all of the channels you have or only a select few? Chances are pretty good it’s the latter. If this is the case, then contact the company and have some channels removed.
Recently, gas companies became deregulated which is good news for the consumer. This means that in places like Rockwall TX power to choose is your option and you use a service to get you the best rates and options available without having to shop around.
Contacting creditors to extend payments
When you fall into a financial hardship the best thing to do is to contact your creditors to see if they have any services in place that can extend a payment out or reduce your interest temporarily.
Many banks that offer loans for cars and credit cards give you the option, for a nominal fee, to add a hardship service on to the contract. If you have this in place, you can forward the required paperwork to them and they will suspend payments temporarily.
If you didn’t opt for this service, you can still explain the problem and try to get an extension on your payments. This can help give you a month or so to get things in order and slowly recover.
Contract the right credit repair service
Sometimes, despite your honesty and best efforts, things don’t go as planned. Your creditors are not willing to suspend any payments and you have a pile of collection notices without enough money coming in to repay them.
The good news is that there are companies that specialize in credit repair. They can contact your creditors and work out payment options. And, many times reduce your debt to a fraction of what you owe.
Be sure to check the ratings and results achieved before signing onto a credit repair service to make sure you’re getting the best service possible.
Before resorting to a credit repair service make sure that you’ve exhausted all other options. While they may free up monies and offer a quick-fix to your current dilemma, you will have this lingering on your credit report for several years. This can result in higher rates for a car loan, mortgage and credit cards. Whereas falling behind and missing a couple of payments can correct itself over a short period of time.
Life happens and if you are able to borrow the money from a retirement plan, such as a 401K or a family member, you can get back on track quickly and avoid having a lower credit score for many years.
