In today’s world, debt has become a necessity in various stages of our lives. Every person, at some point in their life wants to acquire something expensive, such as a car or a house. To finance these purchases, you usually need to take out a loan.
As an athlete, you have learned to have full control of your physical condition and your health. The same attitude and discipline should be applied to your financial life, especially to the management of your debt. If you dream of a successful financial future, you have to be able to manage your debt, despite its size.
If your debt is small, you have to be sure it doesn’t get out of control by keeping up with your instalments. On the other hand, if you have a large debt, your efforts towards paying that debt should be more rigorous. Let’s take a look at how Money Smart Athletes can keep their debt under control with four small but important tips.
TIP #1. BE FULLY AWARE – “THE DEBT LIST”
Knowing to whom and how much you owe is by far the most important part in the process. In order to have the situation under control, create a “debt list” with your debts which will include:
- the creditor
- the due date
- the total amount of the debt
- the monthly instalments
By making this list and taking into account all of your debts, you will be able to see the bigger picture and be fully aware of your complete debt position. You should make sure that you update your debt list regularly and keep tab of decreasing debt. Watching your debt go down will make you feel good and will motivate you to continue paying your instalments as planned.
TIP #2. BE CONSISTENT
Being prompt with your monthly instalments, keeps the situation under control and yourself in check. On the other hand, late payments make the situation a bit chaotic and more difficult to handle. It becomes harder to repay the debt due to the fact that it accumulates plus you are charged with overdue interest and other default charges.
What can you do? If you don’t want to create a standing order agreement with your banking institution, you can use a calendar system on your smartphone or computer, record the instalment due dates there and set an alert to remind you in advance when your payment is due. It is important if you miss an instalment, not to wait until the next due date, but to proceed with the payment prior to the due date of the next installment.
TIP #3. AT LEAST, PAY THE MINIMUM
In case of credit card debt, if you cannot afford to pay any additional amount further to the minimum, make sure you will at least proceed with your minimum payment. This will not really help you in making actual progress towards repaying your debt but it will keep your account stable and your debt under control. It is noteworthy to mention that when you fail to make your monthly payments, it becomes harder to catch up, and sooner or later your loan could be in default.
TIP #4. PRIORITIZE
Last but not least, you should prioritize your debts! In other words, decide which debt is best to settle first. For instance, credit cards have higher interest rates than other loans. Therefore, the best you can do is to prioritize the repayment of any credit card debt you may have. Another option is to repay the debt with the lowest balance first. In order to avoid any extra costs, use your list to rank and prioritize your debts, in the optimal way to improve your financial position.
Keeping your debt under control is not impossible. All it needs is some careful planning and lots of discipline. You have to be careful and realize that defaulting on a debt will create a multitude of financial problems, both now and in the future. Always make sure that you follow these tips when borrowing money and make sure that you get some credible financial planning advice before taking any major financial decisions.
If you need any help in keeping your debt under control you can get in touch with us at [email protected].
