Unpaid bills can weigh heavily on the mind and are no joke especially if you have constant phone calls reminding you that you owe money.
The monthly bill reminders are coming through in the mail and your email inbox.
Now is the time to stop hiding from your money problems and start facing up to them
If you are stuck and wondering how to move past this phase then firm action needs to be taken
It may not seen it, but there are helpful solutions that will help you get back in your feet
Granted, this change isn’t goin to happen overnight and it takes some determination on your part, but it is possible
There is a reason you went from being able to pay your bills to now being overwhelmed with your payments
It could be due to a variety of reasons
- A job loss
- Taken on more than you can actually handle
- Not budgeting correctly
- Payments going up unexpectedly
- Other unexpected costs
Sometimes these circumstances are not self-inflicted or intentional, however the responsibility is there to be addressed
First step – Avoid Self-blame and Self-pity
Feeling sorry for yourself gets you no where.
Real talk
I’ve been there personally and wondered why I’m such a mess or failure financially.
The feeling you have is horrible. I get it. The problem is, that negative self talk stays and plays on your subconscious.
Instead of getting positive results, you end up with what you’ve been getting all along
Change the narrative by focusing on your strengths. What you can and are doing to improve your situation.focus on the positive feelings when you achieve what you set out to do.
Instead of feeling sorry for yourself and low and insecure, feel strong and powerful, you can really make a difference
Step two – Write Everything Down
The only way for you to make progress is to write down every unpaid bill that is outstanding
Even if it’s one payment – write down the outstanding figure owed.
Now to be clear, this doesn’t relate to debts you are current on, and actually doesn’t have to be debts alone, it could also be house payments such as rent, utilities etc.
Whatever financial account that you have, that needs to be brought up to date, is what we are talking bout here
Step three – Assess Your Current Finances
Now this part is going to take some real self analysis.
Is the problem really because you have no money or is the problem there because you aren’t managing your money correctly?
This makes a huge difference to know how you can tackle the problem.
Run through your regular income vs regular and necessary expenses.
I say necessary expenses because let’s be honest, that trip to the nail salon might be what you need but instead that’s a few bucks going towards these payments.
Check out my blog post on how to start a budget here if you don’t budget already
If you have expendable income –
Great! Decide based on what is outstanding how much you are going to put towards your bills.
If you don’t have any disposable income –
Either drastic cutbacks need to be made or you need to generate another income source ASAP!
Read my posts here for advice on:
Having a side job for extra income
How to sell some things to raise money
Step four – Face Your Lenders
This part can be tricky and in all honesty might be difficult to do but it will benefit you heavily in the long run
I am in no way a professional in this matter so if you are in very serious situation financially you need to seek professional financial advice.
Here in the U.K. you can contact agencies such as StepChange who can negotiate for you. I have done this in the past and for me personally where I did pay off some debt it greatly damaged my credit for the long term so I recommend giving this some thought and research.
If you’re feeling brave and in control, you can speak directly to your creditors to see how you can work together and come up with a mutually satisfactory agreement to help you get back on track.
Most lenders want their money and if you’re open and honest with them, they will play ball.
Having these conversations will help you to decide on priorities for what bills to focus on paying off first and also how much money to put towards them.
Step five – Stick To The Plan
I cannot stress how important this is. One on occasion, I made the mistake of setting up a payment plan with a credit card I was behind on. Unfortunately, I missed the second payment and as a result, my plan was cancelled and they were asking for the entire outstanding amount!
Headache and more stress is ab understatement to say the least
Please don’t let this be you
Keep to the payment terms and follow these tips to help
Put a calendar reminder in your phone for the payment due dates
Set up automated payments
Keep a tracker of the payments and their payment due dates
Step six – Get Ahead Of Your Bills Quick
The idea of this is to pay off your payments and the quicker you can achieve this the better
See where you can contribute funds in your budget to bring those minimal payments down.
The more you can put towards payments, the quicker you can get on top of these bills and the better it will be, both financially and emotionally.
Step seven – Future Planning
The aim is not to go back down the previous path of getting behind on your bills again.
So have a workable action plan for your finances, for the next six months and up to a year.
If you have other debts, can you now focus on paying these off?
Can you use your new side income to save an emergency fund?
Practical thinking is the goal, I want to you know that you can gain control and improve your money for the better going forward
What other ways helped you to get on top of unpaid bills? Share your ideas and lets help each other