While the budget will help you to manage your debt and to begin eliminating outstanding debt if you have excessive amounts of debt then you are going to need to take a little more action to reduce the impact this will have on your life, your credit rating and your future.
If you have a lot of creditors or a lot of debt owing to creditors then you will probably need to contact them and try to work out some deals were you can pay them off in installments over a period of time that is manageable.
If you’re already paying installments then they might need adjusting so you can handle them more easily.
Your budget should have the details of all of your outstanding debts and the amounts that you should be paying. With this information you can work out accurately how much you can afford to pay and then present that to your creditors to see that they are happy to allow payments at a reduced rate if necessary.
Expect them to try to pressure you into higher payments but if you let them know that your budget only allows for a specific amount to be paid per period then more often than not they will agree to it knowing that the debt will get cleared in that manner.
Sometimes it is necessary to borrow more money to pay off existing debt and while you will be reluctant to borrow money it can be beneficial where consolidation of debt reduces costs in the form of penalties and interest. You should only borrow if you can find money at a lower interest rate than the debt that is currently owed.
You can also get help from good credit counseling agencies that will help you to prepare a budget and negotiate with your creditors to reduce payments.
Often they will give you other advice that will help with the management of your finances and will be invaluable to helping you improve your financial position.
And finally if worst comes to worse and you really can’t afford to pay off the excessive amount of debt that you have built up there might be no alternative but to file for bankruptcy. You will need some professional advice as to when and how to do this as it can make the difference between eliminating your debt completely or alternatively giving you three to five years to pay off what is owed.