Have you ever made a mistake, known instantly that you did and felt that gut-wrenching frustration that goes along with it? When you do that with your debt, it can really be problematic, and you must know what mistakes to avoid.
For example, many people pay their bills, but they just don’t do it on time. Maybe you simply forgot about the due date. Maybe you didn’t quite have enough money and you had to wait a week until that next paycheck came in.
It can be an issue either way. For one thing, it can be a hit to your credit score. Perhaps more problematically, you may get late fees on top of what you owe. If you already were unable to pay on time, this can start a cycle of mounting debt.
It can also be problematic to just throw everything on your credit cards, maxing them out. This is just a temporary fix for financial problems. Those cards have high interest rates if you can’t pay off the balance. That too can make it so that debt continues to climb.
Another mistake is not paying any attention to a letter you get about late payments or money being sent to collections. Some people are tempted to ignore them, not wanting the stress and not knowing how they’ll pay.
In reality, the best thing to do when you get such a letter is to make an honest assessment of your financial situation and learn all about your legal options. Ignoring it doesn’t solve it, but there are options out there that are worth exploring.
Source: Credit, “5 Credit Mistakes You’ll Regret Immediately,” Jeanne Kelly, accessed May 16, 2017
