advice

Debt Recovery for Parents

If ever there were a BAD four letter word, and I mean BAAADDD four letter word (which there are a couple, but this one is even worse)…can guess what it is?

Yup! You guessed it…DEBT!

My father is the master financial counselor and we have talked for years about writing a book on him and some of his friends, who are living well at 78 and older. And not because they had professional jobs, advanced degrees, and lots of resources, but because they know how to monitor, save, and grow their money. My father attributes his financial savvy to growing up during post-Depression in Alabama.

“We didn’t have welfare, credit cards. If you didn’t have it (the money) right then, you had to wait. People need to learn to plan and to wait.”- my dad.

And his life is reflective of planning and discipline as he has purchased all of his homes and cars in cash (never knew what kind of leverage, negotiating power cash gives you. I want to try that one day very soon.) and he paid for college for all three of his children, so why are 2 of his 3 children (me included) are in debt?

Student Loans for graduate school. (Can we make this a four letter word on GP? Because this is BAAADDD.)

I wanted to move up in a company, loved the work, made a good salary and my oldest was well taken care of my her maternal grandparents (remember, DH was in grad school). I started the program out of fear/frustration/resentment (not good reasons to get 50k in debt…just a little FYI), but I did enjoy the program and a master’s degree has convinced other people that I know what I’m talking about (it also gave me an opportunity to teach on a college level and I am looking into doing that again). So, what’s the problem? The interest rates were ridiculous. I didn’t take the time to shop around (emotional buying, folks) and I can’t wait to pay this thing off. In the meantime, this debt, along with some credit card debt (car vandalism multiple times/inventory carrying business went south) is keeping us, our family in total hostage.

What do you do? Get creative, get resourceful and get to work!

Get Creative!

Writing is fun for me, natural. I believe that I am gifted to speak, teach and write. I am always looking at what I am doing and how I can do it better, more efficiently, more effectively. I stress creative for parents who are already working full-time jobs because instead of leaving home for a second job, what can you do in home or with the family?

• Tutoring for the summer
• running errands/personal conceirge for elderly family/friends/neighbors
• online sales (I hear ebay professionals make money)
• computer repair or computer training (there are still a lot of people who don’t know how to search the web or how to create a family reunion newsletter)
• event planning (graduation parties/weddings/sweet 16s)

If you want more information on homebased business. check out anything and everything by Paul and Sarah Edwards.

Get resourceful!

Over at Secure Loan Consolidation, you can get information on mortgage refinancing, tax debt help and debt consolidation In one place, you can find articles, information about mortgage forbearance (didn’t know that existed), avoiding bankruptcy (if you are considering personal bankruptcy, check out the Facts for Consumers published by the FTC) and credit card help. Also, you can scroll to the bottom of the page and search for resources by state. Here is a list of Maryland’s resources. Sign up for the newsletter in the left sidebar, so that you can start putting financial freedom in motion.

All of us are being inundated with information regarding financial programs, but you need a way to

Get to work!

The debt won’t go anywhere, even with wishful thinking. You have to be proactive. It took us some time to get stable enough to even think about implementing a plan. Regardless of how much I have a ton of resources to share with you on Family and Finances on Friday, so make sure you come back tomorrow.

© 2007 DahGurl.