Bad Credit Loans - Pay off loans

Pay It Off And Plan Ahead
by Taffy Wagner

Maybe you've looked at your calendar and realized that October
is fast approaching. You have set some goals earlier this year
in the area of your finances but have not achieved them. Now is
the time to make a committed effort to begin paying those bills
off and plan ahead. Why? As holiday season approaches, people
tend to create more debt than any other time during the year.

The idea is not to achieve more debt as the end of the year
approaches, but to end the year on a financially positive step.
You can still concentrate on one bill now and make a dedicated
effort. Perhaps it will only take you one or two months to pay
it off. Regardless, pay it off. Then the money you placed
towards that bill use to purchase your holiday items.

I can assure you with the latest round of hurricanes that
happened consumables are bound to go up. When I was recently in
my home state of Louisiana, retailers were having trouble
keeping food on the shelves. It will not be long before this
happens in other states.

Do not charge your holiday shopping because when January comes
and you receive those bills, you could end up disgusted. More
than likely you will not pay the bill right off. Eventually
whatever you charged ends up costing you more than the original
price. Does it make sense to pay two times the amount for a
product?

For example, last year my husband and I found some gift baskets
that we really liked in a magazine. We were going to order them
and looked at what the shipping costs would be. We decided to
shop around at some of our local stores and found those
baskets. We sat down and made up a list of clients and
relatives that should receive them. Then we began purchasing
them in small increments. We were done with our clients and
family by December 1.

Do not add more bills to your financial situation, begin a new
start and take steps to remove financial stress. To plan for
the holidays you should:

1) Make a plan now even if it is the beginning October, (its
not too late) about what you are going to purchase

2) Shop around to see who has the better bargain

3) Do not overspend

4) Do not wait to the last minute to shop. I know this will be
challenging for those individuals that like those last minute
discounts. However, is it really worth fighting all those
crowds on December 24th, when you could be done by December
1st.

Once you have gotten your holiday spending done and looking
forward to the next year, put some financial goals in place and
stick to them. It is less stressful knowing that you can shop
early and get what you want, instead of having to take what is
left. Remember back in October when you paid off that first
bill, now you want to begin working on the next bill. Then
every three or four months, you could potentially be working on
a new bill. When October comes the next year, you could have
paid off two or three bills depending on the time frame you set
for yourself and the holidays will be more enjoyable.

Dr. Taffy Wagner is the author of Debt
Dilemma. Debt Dilemma is her own personal story of how she got
into debt and was able to get out without filing bankruptcy.
She will be launching a national marketing campaign on October
18, 2005. View her website at
http://www.paidoff.net/SpecialPromo.html for further details.