Understanding debt relief options available to Florida Residents
When you're in debt, it is important to understand there are a variety of legal debt relief options to choose from, including debt management through credit counseling, debt consolidation, debt settlement, and even bankruptcy. Each option works a little differently to provide relief.
Debt Negotiation/Settlement
Belsky Caso, P.A. is a debt relief agency. If Bankruptcy is not for you, we offer services for negotiating with your lenders/creditors regarding your debt. Our attorneys can present the best case scenario to your creditors for the reduction of interest rates, fees, and/or penalties in order to make the debt manageable. We will evaluate your overall debt burden, your income and expenses and present a plan to the creditor.
In preparation for setting up a spending-plan, we will help you organize a list of your sources of monthly income including gifts, bonuses, tax refunds, cost of living increases, dividends and interest income, Social Security, pensions, etc. Then we will identify your monthly expenses and categorize them into fixed and flexible expenses.
A fixed expense is one that remains the same each month such as a mortgage or rent, a loan payment, insurance premiums, an amount of money set aside each month for such things as gifts, motor vehicle maintenance or clothing and uniforms, for example. Total-up fixed expenses.
Flexible expenses are those which are directly controlled. These include household and grocery items, utilities, entertainment, meals away from home, out of pocket expenses, etc. Total-up flexible expenses.
All expenses are totaled and then subtracted from the total income figure for the month. Next, divide total expenses by the frequency of income or the number of paychecks the household receives each month. This tells you how much to set aside from each paycheck . (Note: If the expense total is greater than the income total, you are out of balance financially. You will need to prioritize expenses by noting every expense for which credit will be utilized in order to keep in the plan. Then ask yourself if you want to borrow every month for these expenses.)
A fixed expense is one that remains the same each month such as a mortgage or rent, a loan payment, insurance premiums, an amount of money set aside each month for such things as gifts, motor vehicle maintenance or clothing and uniforms, for example. Total-up fixed expenses.
Flexible expenses are those which are directly controlled. These include household and grocery items, utilities, entertainment, meals away from home, out of pocket expenses, etc. Total-up flexible expenses.
All expenses are totaled and then subtracted from the total income figure for the month. Next, divide total expenses by the frequency of income or the number of paychecks the household receives each month. This tells you how much to set aside from each paycheck . (Note: If the expense total is greater than the income total, you are out of balance financially. You will need to prioritize expenses by noting every expense for which credit will be utilized in order to keep in the plan. Then ask yourself if you want to borrow every month for these expenses.)
In order to achieve your financial goal, a certain amount of discipline is required along with some changes in your lifestyle as you set these goals.
- A short-term financial goal are goals that you set and achieve within one month to one year. These short term financial goals can include a family vacation, birthday and holiday gifts, purchasing a TV or even paying off a credit card or other bills.
- A mid-term financial goal are goals that you try to accomplish within one to five years. This can be in the form of purchasing a new automobile, paying off all your credit cards or even remodeling your home.
- A long-term financial goal are goals that will take five years and longer to achieve. Examples of long term goals includes a college education fund, buying a house and retirement savings.
We will help you organize this information and your banking so that you can get you off the paycheck to paycheck routine. We will help you to understand how to review your spending plan each income period so that you can up-date year-long spending plans quarterly. Before long you will be better prepared to handle your bills and your re-negotiated loans so that you can move toward a fiscally balanced future. Next, setting your financial goals.
