Have mortgage problems left you with extra debt?
If your debt is between a few thousand pounds/dollars and maybe 10,000 to 15,000, then you can solve your problems cleanly and acceptably by starting with a list of all the people you owe money. Ideally you should have a pretty good estimate for each amount of money owed, but maybe you won't feel comfortable ringing them and asking, when they have trained sales rottweilers trying to use psychological bullying to make you agree to payment plans you cannot afford1. List your debts
2. Make a list of your income and outgoings, no matter how small. Even if you have a negative figure at the end. Have your income estimate, ensure that it reflects the longst period possible for you to be precise about.
3. Show how much money you have left over and allocate it proportionally to the debts on your list or, if there is nothing left over or a very small amount, make a token 1 pound/dollar payment to each company on the list.
4. Be sure to send a photocopy of the financial statement, along with a 3 line payment plan simply stating that for each of the next 3 months you will pay the payment you have indicated.
Refinancing loans and mortgages isn't always the answer
By paying a token or small payment to each debt, you will start to undo the damage of bad credit and start to prevent further attacks on your credit by hostile companies. You will even start to be able to pinpoint which debts you will be able to wipe out first and before long you'll be setting your sights on wiping out your whole debt. But your freedom and peace of mind begins the moment you get your debts listed and get yourself organised. Pay by cheque in the post once a month - and ignore all their attempts to make you pay any other way - standing for 40 minutes in a bank queue, or indeed any other inconvenience, is unnecessary. Send a cheque in the post and ignore the foaming at the mouth that the companies and institutions throw your way. They have no right to do this and it is all bravado.
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