Are you single and on your way to being deep-in-debt? Let’s take a look at a few questions and see if you qualify for this dubious distinction.
- Do you eat most of your meals out every day of the week?
- Do you buy coffee, snacks, etc. every time you gas up or on your way to work or at work?
- Do you go out most weekends for drinks and/or dinner with friends or by yourself?
- Do you pick up the tab for your friends most of the time?
- Do you have student loan debt?
- Is that student loan in deferment?
- Do you have more than one or two credit cards?
- Are any of your credit cards maxed out?
- Do you take out cash from your ATM and then wonder where you spent it?
- When a bill comes due, do you not have the money to pay it in full?
- Do you take out payday loans?
- Do you borrow money from your parents, friends, or relatives?
- Do you owe money to your parents, friends, or relatives?
- Do you only make the minimum payment on your credit cards?
- Are you receiving calls from collection agencies?
If you answered yes to more than five of these questions, you are on your way to being deep-in-debt. You can stop this, however. You need to stop eating out, partying, taking on more debt, and start paying your student loans. Get on a spending plan, cut-up your credit cards, learn to live on cash, use the snowball method to payoff your debt, avoid risky debt, such as payday loans and rent-to-own. These loans are risky because they are predatory. They charge you an enormous amount of interest and the debt keeps growing every month that you don’t pay it off. Student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy. Also, if your parents co-signed for the loans and you default, your student loan debt becomes their debt. Start an emergency fund. Take advantage of your employer’s 401K plans only if they match and only up to the match. If you are single and see that you are on your way to being deep-in-debt, you might want to move in with your parents to save some money on rent. Take the money you were paying on rent and apply it to your debt. However, don’t be a mooch to your parents. Do stuff around the house for them. Wash your own clothes, cook meals for the family, etc. Park your car and use public transportation to save on gas. Be creative with ways to save money. If you cannot move in with your parents, consider getting a roommate or getting into a less expensive apartment.
