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The Blahs of Winter ? How to Deal with the debt Blahs

By Susan Jung, MBA

Each and every day I meet with or talk to people on the phone who are struggling with debt. The Blahs of Debt really are very similar to the Blahs of Winter.

I don’t know about you, but the after Christmas let-down can be pretty hard. I love the anticipation of Christmas – decorating the tree, seeing the children in my family shudder with excitement and scream with delight as the day grows nearer, getting together with family and laughing so hard that our jaws hurt the next day. Then, in a seeming instant, it is all over. Everybody goes home, the tree is tucked away for another year, work routines normalize and all that is left is dealing with winter.

Some people love winter – I don’t so much. I drive a lot for work, so I am always worried about the weather. I am not much for outdoor sports; aside from walking my dog, I pretty much avoid the outdoors. It is too cold, and just simply too much work. I hate shoveling the drive. Well, I think you are getting the picture. For some of us, winter is just not that much fun. It is easy to cocoon ourselves until Spring and that can leave us feeling pretty blah.

Just like winter, finances can leave us feeling a little cold, blue and blah. Just like winter, when dealing with debt, it sometimes just seems easier to pull the covers over our heads and wait for Spring. This is one strategy, but it is probably not the most healthy approach. Here are some alternatives to consider:

1.) Find the strength to take stock of your debt: how much do you owe? Are you behind in any payments? What would you have to do in order to get back on track? Use a debt options calculator to see what it would cost to get out of debt. Here is a credit card calculator that is a great tool to help you figure out what it would take to become debt free on your own

2.) If after taking stock, you determine that managing on your own is not a realistic option, make an appointment with your financial advisor or your bank manager – is there something that they can suggest that can help you to get your finances under control? Would you qualify for a debt consolidation loan?

3.) In some cases, banks and financial advisors can help, in other cases they can’t – if they can’t, there is another professional that I would encourage you to see – a Credit Counsellor – credit counsellors can be a very helpful and objective set of eyes – they may be able to suggest some changes that you can make to your monthly budget that can be effective in helping you deal more effectively with the debt. In other cases, they may be able to negotiate with your creditors – this is called a Debt Management Plan.

4.) Sometimes there is really only one professional who can give you the help you need to get rid of the blahs of debt – this is a Trustee in Bankruptcy – for many people, the realization that they may need to file bankruptcy in Ontario makes them feel even more blah, but this is most often because they don’t really understand how Trustees help. Lots of people make assumptions that they will lose everything and that bankruptcy is the only alternative. While talking to a Trustee can certainly be a difficult thing to do, in most cases the clients who do, are glad they did. Why? Because a Trustee can help them beat the Blahs of Debt. Whether through filing bankruptcy or a consumer proposal, the debt gets effectively dealt with. Most people tell us that by simply talking to us, they feel a weight lifted from their shoulders and their blahs turn into hope for the future.

Although dealing with the Blahs of Debt is similar to dealing with the Blahs of Winter, there is one very big difference. We can’t do anything about Winter – it’s here. But you can do something about your debt. We’d be pleased to help you understand what all of your options are. Give us a call at 310-PLAN, or send us an e-mail – let us help you put the blahs of debt behind you.

Full post as published by Hoyes Michalos and Associates Ontario Personal Bankruptcy Blog on February 23, 2011 (boomark / email).