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Many consumers are overwhelmed by accumulated debts. In most cases, the problem creeps up gradually, until the total debt load reaches unmanageable proportions. Sometimes even minor problems such as temporary illness can tip the balance for the heavily indebted because they have no savings on which to fall back. Here are some suggestions to help ease the debt burden.

Credit Cards

If you know you are tempted to overspend on credit cards, leave them at home when you go shopping. Pay with cash and you will not have the temptation to overspend.

Develop a Budget

To take control of your financial situation you must have a realistic assessment of how much money you earn and how much money you have left over to spend. Calculate your total income, then list your “fixed” expenses - those unescapable charges you incur every month - like mortgage payments or rent, car payments, and insurance premiums. Next, list optional expenses such as entertainment, recreation, and clothing. Writing down all your expenses, even small ones, is a helpful way to track spending patterns, identify necessary expenses, and prioritize the rest. The goal of a budget is to ensure that your basic needs are met before any discretionary spending.

Contact Your Creditors

Contact your creditors immediately if you’re having trouble paying debts. Tell them why it’s demanding for you, and try to establish a modified payment schedule that reduces your payments to a more manageable sum. Do this before your account is handed to a bill collector. At that point, your creditors have given up trying to collect the debt voluntarily.

Auto and Home Loans:

Debts are referred to as unsecured or secured. Secured debts usually are tied to an asset, like your car for a car loan, or your home for a mortgage. If you miss payments on a secured loan, the lender can repossess your car or even foreclose on your home. Unsecured debts are not linked to any any asset, and include virtually all credit card debt, medical bills, signature loans, and debts for other services. It is wise to pay off secured loans first, to avoid loss of assets.

Debt Consolidation

Debt consolidation loans reduce interest rates thus lowering your monthly payments. Shop around for the best rates, and consider closing costs as well. There are many different companies offering widely different rates. Consolidation loans can give you a fresh start, consolidating all of your loans into one simple payment, in virtually all cases at a lower rate of interest.

Methods of Debt Consolidation

Credit Card companies and banks offer debt consolidation as unsecured individual loans, with no collateral. Because these are risky loans for the lender, they’re usually more expensive than secured loans and not always available if you have a lot of debt and a bad credit rating.

Home Equity Loans, Home Equity Line of Credit, Interest-Only Loans, and Cash Out Refinance are all secured loans using your house as collateral. Rates are lower than unsecured loans, but if you default, you may lose your home.

Credit Counselling Services

Credit counselling agents will help you get out of debt, though they don’t actually consolidate your debt.
Instead, payment plans (usually with lower interest and fees) will be worked out for all of your eligible debts. You are left with a single monthly payment to the counselling agent, who will pay all your creditors.

Participating in a credit counselling program normally won’t hurt your credit rating and will provide a payment program to clear up your debts in 3 to 6 years. However, be sure to choose a reputable service provider. If the credit counselling agency pays your bills late, you’ll pay the cost since you are still legally responsible to the lender.

Retirement Loans

If you have a 401(k), 403(b) project or even certain varieties of company pension plans, it is possible to borrow against your nest egg. (You can’t borrow against your IRA.) You do not have to pre-qualify. It is preferable to borrow against your retirement account, rather than withdraw from it early to avoid paying higher taxes and a ten percent penalty. But remember, if you lose your job, you might have to pay your loan back immediately or even pay taxes and penalties for an early withdrawal.

Debt Class Action Settlement

This involves an agreement with a personal injury settlement company. You make monthly payments to them, and they deal with your creditors to negotiate a final settlement of your debts, usually for fifty percent or less of the balance. Your credit rating will go down if you use this option, but in extreme circumstances it may be preferable to bankruptcy.

Most consumers can solve their debt problems by using one of these plans. It is best to have a plan to pay off your debts in 3-5 years. Don’t procrastinate — choose an approach and begin getting out of debt today.

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Tired of that same old boring bathroom? You want a change, something Tropical, but you just don’t have the money to pull off some of the looks that the magazines show right? Wrong! Here are some tips to help you create a tropical paradise in your bathroom without breaking the bank:

Make a game plan of what you would like to do to your bathroom. While it doesn’t have to be elaborate blue prints, just a small list of what you would like to do and the end result you want to create will be enough to keep you on track while out looking for items. This will also help you to stay within a budget and not overspend on things that you didn’t plan on.

Hit local dollar stores. You might have to hit a couple before you find anything that you like or can use, but you can usually find the basics here like: toothbrush holders, cups, soaps, towels, rugs, etc. Some might even carry strands of ivy or palm that you can buy really cheap to help decorate your bathroom with.

Hit local fabric shops or stores that carry bolts of fabric. If you like the look of the sheer, white, material strung above a bath or shower like a canopy of bug netting, this is the place to get it. You don’t need to shell out all those bucks for expensive material, just pick out some very lightweight white or off-white material for your canopy, but make sure that you get enough to cover the canopies that you want to make.

Hit local discount stores. If the dollar stores just don’t have what you wanted, hit some local discount stores. While this will be little more expensive than the dollar shops, it still won’t cost you as much as the department stores and specialty shops. You should be able to find everything you need here.

Grab some foliage. If you have room in your bath for a small, fake palm, grab one while you are at a local discount store. If you only have room for smaller plants, you can either go with the fake ones, or you can get a couple of real ones. Ivy plants work great in bathrooms since they like the moisture in the air and they don’t require too much direct sunlight to grow wild.

There are several places where you can find information on fixing up bathrooms on a budget. There are several periodicals and loads of information online. The key is to plan exactly what you want and comparison shop before making a purchase.

By following these few steps while shopping for tropical décor for your bath, not only will you save money, but soon you will be enjoying a tropical paradise in your own home. Just remember to stick to what you want to do and not deviate too much from your game plan or you can go overboard really quickly. Happy shopping and happy decorating!

Check out http://www.art-ickles.com for unique bathroom decorations from the Caribbean.

Magalie Noel Dresse is the Webmaster of home-00.info, an informative site on home decor, and of Art-ickles.com a tropical home decorations webstore.