It is time to stop worrying about your financial position and start doing something to get yourself to where you want to be. Let us look at some ways that you can change the how you, spend money and look at debt.
A good way to improve your finances and become more conscious of prices is to look for discounts and special offers every time you spend money. Try to stop purchasing by brand, if one burger store is including a free drink then go there, if one store has a buy one get one free on a certain cola, purchase from there. This will save you money and make you more aware of the cost of many of the things that all of us take for granted.
It is common now for people to buy anything that they want on credit, this can easily snowball where you have a house full of the latest expensive gadgets that you hardly ever use. The downside can be with all this frivolous credit when you need to buy something important the many credit lines you already have affected your credit score and you are declined or forced to pay a much higher interest rate.
The latest money wasting idea is bottled water, tap water is thousands of times cheaper and if you live in an area with unpalatable water then a filter can be used. There are also cheap flavor mixes that can be used at home and work instead of buying expensive cans and bottles of branded soft drink.
Check out charity shops and thrift stores that have many items that are in good condition and very inexpensive. Children love to search for items and they can be great items for them to play or roam around in. To get the best items get in early and if you have some suitable items why not donate them helping to keep your favorite store open.
Credit cards can be a great tool if used properly, but it is important that you do not get lazy. If you let them roll out of there no interest period then you are paying more than you need to. You can lose hundreds of dollars a year per card just by not closing them out at the end of the month.
The best way to manage your finances is to save as much as you can. If you have a mortgage then you may be able to setup an offset account where your savings reduce the balance of the mortgage and reduce the interest paid. Having savings means that you always have a financial buffer is something happens.
If you have a debt that has gone to collection then you may be able to negotiate a partial payment to extinguish the debt. This is because most debt is sold and at only a fraction of its full value. If you cannot make a large one off payment then a payment plan can be negotiated. Debt collection agencies are likely to be less favorable on terms than a single large payment.