5 Reasons You Need to Solve Your Credit Issues NOW

I know it isn’t easy. Climbing out of debt was one of the biggest struggles of my life.

But I did it, and looking back toward that ugly black hole, I can tell you there are some things I wish I would have done better. I could have shortened the process.

However, when you’re staring at a stack of bills and wondering what to do, it’s difficult to think about strategy, isn’t it?

There are so many reasons why you need to solve your credit problems, but the five biggest, in my mind are these:

1. Studies show that the real money can’t be made until you’re able to focus long term. When I had mountains of debt I had to think about how to get food on the table tomorrow instead of how to grow my business. There’s no mystery why my business started growing quickly when it did: I’d finally climbed nearly out of debt and began attacking my income streams strategically instead of tactically.
2. You’re stuck in pointless meetings and negotiations. I spent so much time keeping my creditors at bay that I don’t know how I found time to make my payments.
3. Sleep becomes difficult, and it’s hard to unwind. Even during family excusions, I felt the weight of our debt. Every time we bought ice cream or went for a bike ride, my thoughts were on how guilty I felt either spending money or enjoying myself.
4. You have to search high and low for money. To solve credit problems right now, I had to turn to whomever would give me money. In the UK it might be someone like Wage Day Advance, while in the US, if it weren’t a relative, I’d have few resources. You don’t want to be begging people or taking wage advance loans forever.
5. Repayment terms are aggressive and can create a debt spiral. At some points I was taking on new debt to pay off the old ones. By focusing on my debt hard and working to climb out fast, I finally was able to say goodbye to financial difficulties and nearly immediately said hello to financial success. You can be as aggressive on your end as creditors are on theirs. Check out this story from Wisebread – Taming Your Debt, Aggressive Repayment Strategies.

Debt doesn’t need to be a black hole. I often told myself as I was climbing out of debt that even Donald Trump had been bankrupt. It’s funny that I’d hold up him as a beacon of hope, but at the time, “the Donald” was a guy that had resurrected himself successfully after some really hard times. I vowed to do the same, and on a much smaller level (thank god!) I’ve done it.

Joe Saul-Sehy

Joe is a former financial advisor and media representative for American Express and Ameriprise. He was the “Money Man” at Detroit television WXYZ-TV, appearing twice weekly. He’s also appeared in Bride, Best Life, and Child magazines, the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Detroit News and Baltimore Sun newspapers and numerous other media outlets.  Joe holds B.A Degrees from The Citadel and Michigan State University.