Finance Information Resource

Allowing yourself to sink into debt is one of the most dangerous money mistakes that a single mother can make because it keeps you in a constant state of powerlessness and lack. It affects every aspect of your life ? your state of mind, your emotional health, your stress level, your relationships, your overall quality of life. Getting yourself into deep debt is like digging a never ending whole for yourself that just keeps getting deeper and deeper. Debt weighs down your spirit, keeps you fearful about the possibility of becoming homeless and it makes you feel like a prisoner. Why? Because debt is a form of mental, emotional and financial imprisonment.

When debt starts to take on a life of its own and grows faster than you can pay it off, it impacts your ability to save, invest and provide the kind of lifestyle that you want for yourself and your children. The only way to effectively deal with debt is to face it head on. Otherwise you?ll keep on drowning in it. Ignoring debt will not make it go away. It will keep you enslaved.

Prosperity Tips

1. Be brutally honest with yourself about your debt. Sit down with your debt. Study your bills. Make a list of all the money you owe in descending order. Call the companies you owe money to and explain your situation. See if you can negotiate a payment plan. The principle here is to call them before they start calling and harassing you.

2. Call up the high interest credit card companies. Tell them that you are considering switching to a card with a lower interest rate. See if they will offer you a lower rate. If not, move your balance to a credit cad company with a lower interest rate. Figure out the absolute largest amount you can afford to pay monthly toward your credit card and pay it. Also, lower your available line of credit. If you have a $10,000 available line of credit, lower it to $5,000. This will reduce the risk of you spending more than you can afford to pay back in a timely manner.

3. This tip is for those of you who are extremely serious about getting out of debt. Cut up every credit card. If you are not willing to cut up every card, then only keep one around for emergencies. But lower the available line of credit to no more than $1,000.

4. Make no more than one trip per week to the ATM machine. Take out the cash you?ll need for the week. Pay for all of your purchases with cash. When you?re out of cash, your spending is over.

5. If your debt is so severe that you’re dangerously close to losing everything, contact the National Foundation for Credit Card Counseling at (800) 388-2227 or http://www.nfcc.org

Excerpted from Cassandra Mack’s book in progress for single moms.

Cassandra Mack is the CEO of Strategies for Empowered Living, a motivational speaker and author of six book. Her most recent book, The Single Moms Little Book of Wisdom, is available at: http://www.amazon.com For more information about Cassandra Mack go to: http://www.strategiesforempoweredliving.com