Budgeting Tips for When You Hire a Bankruptcy Lawyer
by
Jordan Rocksmith
Debt is a serious problem for a lot of people today. With mortgages, student loans, and day to day spending and the unemployment rate still high, you should not feel alone if you are struggling to make ends meet. If you find that you are just sinking lower and lower into debt and there is no end in sight, read on to find out how to implement some useful budgeting tips. If you are making payments and have a plan of attack that is working, you might still benefit from these tips. You can also contact a bankruptcy attorney in Seattle, WA, for more advice.
50/20/30 Rule
There is a commonly used rule in budgeting that you should always be using in you weekly or bi-weekly splitting of your paycheck. It is referred to as the 50/30/20 rule because those are the percentage groupings that you will divide your earnings into after tax.
The 50 percent grouping should be all the necessary bills that you have to pay that typically stay around the same amount. This should be:
Cable
Internet
Rent/ Mortgage
Phone
Electric
Then, the 20 percent grouping represents various savings accounts that you have. This may include:
IRA
Bank Savings Accounts
College Funds
Finally, the flexible spending portion is the 30 percent grouping. This is the portion of your month that you won’t really be able to plan consistently for because different things will come up each month. This will consist of:
Groceries
Entertainment
Eating Out
Babysitters
If you are nearing the prospect of bankruptcy, you should critically analyze what can stay and what can go in these groupings so that you can pay off your bills. Instead of spending 50 percent on your monthly bills, you may need to increase that and cut out portions of the savings and flexible spending. You may need to make sacrifices like, renting movies online instead of going to the theatre or carpooling instead of driving to work each day.
Prioritize
Many people get stuck in a cycle of applying for credit cards to pay off other credit cards, and this sometimes will work if you have a zero interest on the new credit card for a certain amount of time. However, this won’t help your situation if you won’t be able to pay off either card in that amount of time. The best way to get out of debt is to prioritize what bills you need to pay when. You should make paying off the bills with the highest interest rate the first priority. Distributing the amount of payment between all debtors is not always the best method. Call a financial advisor for more help to organize your personal finances.
Other Sources of Aid
If one of the reasons that you are in debt is because you are trying to pay off everything yourself, then you might want to look into other sources of aid available to you. If you are a student there is financial aid through the government as well as through the school. You can also apply for several different scholarships. You can get more information about this from your school financial office.
If you are having trouble paying even your most basic bills like medical bills and grocery bills, then you should contact the State Human Services Department in your area. You could be eligible to be on state run healthcare and/or food stamps. You might have a hard time accepting help like this from the government, but the purpose for these programs are to help people get back on their feet. Contact your bankruptcy attorney in Seattle, WA, for more sources of aid to get out of debt.
Travis A. Gagnier
choosetherightchapter.com/
, Attorney at Law in Seattle, WA provides experienced legal assistance with integrity and compassion. Call
Bankruptcy Attorney Seattle WA
today for a free consultation!
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