There is no shortage of bad economic news in the media lately. Whether it’s the latest figures on unemployment, foreclosures, bankruptcies or consumer debt, there seems to be no end to the negative reports. Being bombarded by these messages day after day can have an effect on your psyche, and lately it may be causing you to entertain doubts about the soundness of your own financial situation. I’d like to help you to put those worries to rest as baseless concerns, but if there is a real problem that you’ve not been paying attention to, I’d like to motivate you to wake up and take some action. Because the unfortunate truth is that debt problems are insidious and can strike with potent force if they go neglected for too long, and negotiating credit card debt is no small feat. Let’s take a look at some of the warning signs that a serious debt problem may exist, and that you may have been subconsciously turning a blind eye toward.
- You have been making only the minimum monthly payment on some of your accounts
- You missed the due dates on your bills more than once
- You took high-interest, high-fee cash advances from your credit cards to pay for basic living expenses
- You have been transferring balances from one credit card to another specifically to avoid having to make a regularly scheduled payment
- You are accustomed to seeing late fees on your statements
- You have NSF (non-sufficient funds) charges on your bank statements
- You are having trouble with some fixed monthly expenses such as your mortgage or rent, car payment, insurance, etc.
- Unplanned expenses, even relatively small ones, can cause major emotional disruption
Hopefully none of the above situations pertain to you, and you can ease your mind because your worries are totally unfounded. But if you see your situation described here, then you’d be well advised to take a hard look at your overall finances. It simply may be that you lack organization in your financial affairs, in which case you should consider just how much your laxness is costing you. You might also consider the near-disasters that could have taken place. On the other hand, if you’ve been closely tracking your financial obligations using a credit card debt calculator and still find yourself dealing with some of the problems listed, then perhaps you should speak with a debt counselor to see what can be done before the situation gets totally out of control.