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How Deep Does Your Debt Pit Go?

Now that you have Committed yourself to stop spending money, it is time to see how deep your Debt Pit Goes. So now, I want you to stop reading here and go gather all your current Credit Card Statements, your Car Payment Book, Your Loan Statements, even your Mortgage Statement. Then Come back and read on.

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Did you get them all? Don’t Cheat. That one, too. The Sears and Gas Cards do count as Credit Cards.

OK. What we need is to Write Down the Outstanding Balance, the minimum Payment and the Interest Rate for Each Debt.

Credit Card #1: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .
Credit Card #2: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .
Credit Card #3: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .
Credit Card #4: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .
Credit Card #5: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .

If you have More than 5 Credit Cards, You definitely have a spending problem. You should seek Professional Financial Help.

Home Mortgage: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .
2nd Mortgage: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .
Car #1 Loan: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .
Car #2 Loan: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .
Student Loan #1: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .
Student Loan #2: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .
Other Loan #1: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .
Other Loan #2: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .

Now write down any large sums of money you may owe a friend or family

Friend or Family Loan #1: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .
Friend or Family Loan #2: .
Outstanding Debt: .
Interest Rate: .
Minimum Payment: .

You really should pay the Friend or Family Loan first. They may not be charging you interest, but it will cost you respect and trust in the long run.
Now that you have the totals for all you debt, lets add it all up and see how deep your Debt Pit Goes.

Credit Card #1: $
Credit Card #2: $
Credit Card #3: $
Credit Card #4: $
Credit Card #5: $
Home Mortgage: $
2nd Mortgage: $
Car Loan #1: $
Car Loan #2: $
Student Loan #1: $
Student Loan #2: $
Other Loan #1: $
Other Loan #2: $
Friend or Family Loan #1: $
Friend or Family Loan #2: $
Total Debt: $

OK. Go ahead. It is OK to Cry.

Do you have any idea what you spend every month? If you are having problems paying your bills, then you probably have no idea. Then we need to find out what your regular expenses are every month. Put an honest number next to each item below and add them up.
Each Month, What do you spend on:

Food:
Grocery Store Only		 $
Eating Out $
Gasoline $
Car Repair/Maintenace
Guesstimate yearly,
Divide by 12		 $
Car Insurance $
Water Bill $
Electricity $
Propane
Natural Gas		 $
Rent $
Renters/Homeowners Insurance $
Property Taxes $
Maintenance $
Health Insurance $
Life Insurance $
Cell Phone $
Home Phone $
Cable/Dish $
Internet $
School Expenses $
Entertainment $
Clothes $
Hobbies $
Collections $
Other $
Total Living Costs $

If you have problems accounting for all of your expenses every month, take a couple of weeks and keep a log of what you spend (absolutely everything you spend). Then go ahead and fill this out a little more honestly.

Now, take your Total Debt: $
Add it to your Total Living Costs: $
That equals your
Monthly Living Expenses:		 $

Go back to the How to Eliminate Your Debt Page.



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This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 7th, 2007 at 12:01 am and is filed under Eliminate Your Debt. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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