Yes to Less Debt

Feeling stressed by the amount of debts you have? Threeyears ago Michelle was struggling on a nurse's salary. Shehad run up huge debts with a number of courtjudgments against her name. She longed to travel - a dreamthat she kept telling herself was impossible. It was clearto Michelle that she couldn't continue to run up debt, yeton payday she would rush out and buy new clothes to cheerherself up.

Becoming more and more stressed about her debts meant thatshe frequently slept badly and was not fresh for work, whichresulted in time off sick. She was unable to work anyovertime because she was always too tired. She kept askingherself, Why is it so difficult for me to save instead ofspending all my money? The same answer came back everytime: Because you spend more money than you are earning!

When Michelle was finally ready to listen to the answersfrom her own conversations, she acknowledged that she neededto stay awayfrom shops so that she physically couldn't spend her money.She knew that, by continuing to shop, she would sabotage herdream of financial security and travelling abroad.

Michelle had warning signs almost every day in the shape ofbills and credit card statements. She began to dread thepost arriving. Finally, she gave in to the situation andcalled me. As you know, she said, I bought a new car afew months ago, which I hardly use now. The bank has justbounced my payment this month and I can't see how I'll beable to make the payment within the next seven days.

She had not realised how much debt she had incurred. Shortof winning the lottery, she accepted that she couldn'tchange her level of debt immediately. Michelle didn'tdeliberately put STOP signs in her life to prevent her dreamhappening. She simply hadn't stopped to think about theconsequences that her spending would have on her dream totravel.

Even though you may know what really matters to you, you mayput all sorts of barriers in place, which firmly STOP youfrom achieving what you really want to do. Have you longedto make changes, to find that you have been stopped just asyou got started, or even beforehand?

In facing her financial situation honestly, Michelle couldsee how long it would take her to be debt-free. For thefirst time in her life, she took time to look at heroutgoings as well as her income.

Michelle accepted that she had let things slide too far, andshe was determined to avoid bankruptcy. She changed herspending habits and decided what was important in her life(no debt and all the stress associated with it; being ableto travel). Three years on, she is working in Australia,with an apartment by the beach, having paid off all herdebts. Now, most of her days are stress free.

If you find you are in debt, don't bury your head in thesand -debt does not go away. It is important to deal with theproblem before it escalatesout of control.

Speak to a friend, family member or a professional advisorand then acton sorting out the debt. Prioritise repayments onessential services such as mortgages and utility bills.

If you are paying off a range of credit cards pay off thosewith the highest rate ofinterest first.

Carolyn Matheson is a nationally recognized Coach,Speaker and Author of "Yes to Less Stress."

Carolyn is a Master Certified Coach, and works with executives and their teams across theworld. She has pioneered an innovative approach to coaching,combining many years of high performance coaching with aholistic approach to work/life balance and has coachedhundreds of leaders and their teams. Her experience as apresenter, both nationally and internationally, spans 20years, with clients currently in Europe, Australia, theMiddle and Far East, and the USA.

Her book, Yes to Less Stress is available online from http://www.areustressed.com

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