Not everyone is born with the financial acumen necessary to stay out of debt. By and large the unrestrained rush for consumer goods (such as the latest vehicles or smart phones) actually makes many of us spend more than we earn. And this habit if left uncurbed is to a large extent, responsible for creating onerous debt burdens in which our near and dear ones may well end up getting stuck in a terrible manner. The consequences may be dire indeed, ranging from insolvency all the way to jail time in extreme cases.
But the question is what to do in a situation when a loved one is on the verge of declaring bankruptcy and losing all of his or her property?
We have a choice, we can go ahead and blame them for it and thus effectively make a bad situation worse. Or alternately we may be more understanding and caring and so help them pass though this tough time with their self esteem intact.
Once we decide to take the later alternative, then mere words of commiseration and endearment may not be enough, rather we need to be more proactive to not only help extract them from this horrible predicament but we also need to make sure that it does not happen again. There are certain steps we can potentially take to help ease their debt burden as a whole.
Seek out reputable credit counsellors
This is by far and wide the most important thing we can do. Many agencies though out the western world offer credit counselling to people in chronic debt. Some of them are non profit organizations while others charge for their services.
Make sure that your loved one finds a well reputed credit counsellor who would help him decrease his debt burden rather than dump additional charges on him in the guise of helping him. Of course you can counsel him yourself, but a professional counsellor would do a better job and moreover he or she might be more prone to following a professional’s expert advice.
A reputable agency would go a long way to ensure that your loved one is well taken care of as regards his financial problems. It would help if you were to ask around from friends and family as to who the best service providers are. Once you have convinced him to seek such help, you have to make sure that he keeps all his appointments with the agency and also follows their budgetary prescriptions to the latter.
Ultimately, you have to be firm
Ultimately, you have to make him understand that the only person who can control his financial habits is the person he sees in the mirror every single day.
If your loved one does not refrain from spending more than he earns, in the long run he has only himself to blame for his financial woes and ultimately he will be left alone to handle his own problems since an agency can only advise not enforce its recommendations.
