Let us consider the situation of a fellow we’ll call Bob. He is 27 years old, works for an insurance company, drives a new car, lives in a nice apartment close to downtown, and likes to go out with friends for drinks and dancing. He is also up to his ears in debt. He has no savings. Many months he runs out of money before he can pay all his bills, and he’s been making up the shortfall by running up charges on his credit card. His cards, however, are now near their upper limit and his bank is not allowing any more charges. Bob is struggling to even make the minimum monthly payment, so he is having trouble imagining how he can ever pay off his credit card account.

Bob undoubtedly needs help with his finances. He seems to be incapable of drawing up and sticking to a budget, and he doesn’t realize the perils of running up high interest long-term debt. He is living way beyond his means, and he is on a sure path to bankruptcy unless he seeks help soon.

Does Bob’s situation describe your life as well? No, hopefully, but you may be a good candidate for financial help as well. Anyone who has tried to place their spending on a budget and repeatedly failed, causing them to fall farther and farther behind in their bills, should consider trying to find some help.

What sort of help should you seek? That largely depends on the type of help you need. If it is just assistance in figuring out your budget and getting some basic advice you may consider hiring a bookkeeper or accountant to sort out your finances. If you need a loan consolidation to rid yourself of multiple high interest loans your bank might be able to help. If you need more complex help, such as negotiating with your creditors, you might seek the services of a debt relief organisation. In severe cases, you should seek professional legal advice.

If all you need is information, the world is at your fingertips. Just look on any good search engine for help on budgeting or debt management and you will be swamped with information. Much of it is good, much of it is redundant (good advice tends to be the same, no matter the source). But be careful for scams and do not give out any personal financial information until you are sure the organisation can be trusted.

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Greg Ellis