Emergency Money Strategy while Dealing With Debt, Financial Stress & Family
Financial stress is common among those forced into frugality because of a lost job, divorce, death in the family, or being overcome with debt, etc.
This can cause a person to feel insecure, fearful, anxious, angry, and, of course, depressed.
These same feelings are easily the number one cause of poor money management decisions. These poor decisions will lead to unmanageable debt loads, and start a vicious cycle of panic that never seems to end.
When you reach this point, and you find yourself with a money emergency, your feelings of helplessness can become so overwhelming you literally stop functioning in the real world.
YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUR WITS ABOUT YOU TO RAISE EMERGENCY MONEY
Get yourself Immediate Help
If you recognize any of the above traits in yourself, get the help you need right away. See out a professional counselor ... talk to a friend or family member … but talk to someone! If you know someone who is exhibiting the above traits, offer to help them! It doesn’t matter whether you lend then cash, an ear, offer some helpful advice, or help them get counseling, do something!
The first thing that you need to grasp is that no situation is hopeless. With just a little guidance and patience, along with a couple of well thought out goals, and emotional support from family and friends, you can do what it takes to come out of dire circumstances.
You can adapt a new outlook, new skills, and best of all, a new feeling of self-esteem. Don’t allow anyone to tell you different, and if they do, close the same door that they came into and don’t again open it! What you need is positive reinforcement and not negativity to help you get to the other side.
Seek out your True Friends
When you are desperate to raise emergency funds, it usually doesn’t take very long for you to realize who really cares about you, who is truly a friend ... be they family or not. Your friends will be there for you in your time of need, offer encouragement, and lend an ear so you can just talk. Ask for help in coming up with good ideas about how you can raise emergency funds during such a difficult time in your life. Be open to the many suggestions that you will receive.
Prepare to Set your Priorities
There comes the time when you will need to put aside your feelings and just concentrate on the well being of you, and your family. This has to be your priority during times of financial stress and upheaval. In financially stressful times, if you, as the Mom or Dad, can’t cope, how can you expect your children to cope now, or in the future? You must set the example for the rest of the family to draw strength from them.
So make the decision today to learn how to cope, to make the changes you can, to stay focused and goal-oriented, and to let anxiety and financial stress go out the door so that you will be prepared to deal with any money emergencies that come your way.
You need to be able to come up with some quick cash fixes (without additional borrowing) to recover from a Money Emergency:
Budgeting Tip #1: The first thing you want to do is prioritize to get back on track very quickly. If that means letting your credit card bill go for a bit, so be it. As soon as you realize that you have a money emergency, contact your credit card issuers and request reduced interest rates and payments. Not only one, both!
Budgeting Tip #2: For your car payment, call the creditor and request a payment extension. Perhaps you hate payment extensions, because they require a fee and you still have to make the payment at the end of the contract. In this case, a payment extension can allow a little breathing room to help you recover during your money emergency. Expect that you will likely have to pay a fee (usually about ¼ - 1/3 the car payment amount) for the extension. Freeing up the money you need today is your first and only goal at this point.
Budgeting Tip #3: Check to see if your mortgage holder will allow an extension for a nominal fee. Do this today!
Budgeting Tip #4: Another quick fix, is to host an on the spot yard sale. You don’t have too much time for planning, so do a quick survey of your personal belongings. Come up with clothes that no longer fit, but that are in good condition, knick-knacks, dishes, and books as well as stuff you bought but no longer use. Throw it all together, quickly. Put some notices up the same day at laundry mats and grocery stores around town, and remember to place a sign at the end of your driveway. You can make a quick $300 this way with very little time and effort.
Budgeting Tip #5: If you have a larger item to sell, call into the local radio stations to see if they have a “call in swap show” on the weekends. This is a very popular way to quickly convert gently used and more expensive items to fast cash.
Budgeting Tip #6: Another quick option is with utility and telephone bills. If you aren’t already on a budget plan, ask that the current bill (plus any previous balance you owe) be set up for a budget plan. Expect to pay a down payment (usually ¼ of the bill) and that all future bills (while on the back payment budget plan) must be kept current. The nice thing about it ... it’s usually interest free, and can give you some much-needed breathing space for a month. You must be sure though that you maintain the regular utility payments AND the budget payments in the coming month.
Budgeting Tip #7: Check with your family church regarding emergency help. Local churches can be one of the best places to find out what’s available in the community to help those in need, or in times of emergency. Check with your local church, first.
Getting Fast Cash through Borrowing
If you are absolutely, positively, in a bind, a real cash emergency, and you have exhausted all of the above, then consider borrowing. First, ask your family, then your local bank.
As a last resort, you may want to consider what’s known as a “Payday Loan.” These types of borrowing stores can be useful when all else fails.