Today’s post in the Rock Your Finances series addresses taking yet another baby step around setting up your debts on paper or on a spreadsheet.  The rationale for this is to to prepare yourself for the call to your creditors after you’ve devised a plan to get current and get out of debt.

By listing your debts, you gain concrete information about your debts such as balances, interest rates and while devising a plan to become current if applicable.  Then once you’ve laid out this information, you will then call your creditors to discuss your plan to get current when ready.

Download the spreadsheet here:

You’ll see that it lists all debts owed, balances, minimum payments, interest rates, payoff and type of debt.

 
Your mission for today should you choose to accept it:

1. Download the spreadsheet.
2. Gather information about every debt you owe.
3. List them on the spreadsheet making sure that all the information is accurate.  If you have to call your creditors to get the information, then please do so.  However, if you have online access to the account, this is the preferred method as contact with the creditor (if you’re behind) can get messy.
4. Once you’ve devised a plan to get out of debt, to call your creditor to verify the information and make sure what you have on paper/spreadsheet matches their information.

Depending on where you are in your financial situation, you may find this useful or tedious.  But wherever you are, it’s always good to know where you stand as it’s never real until your debts staring right back at you from a spreadsheet.  That’s when things get real!

This series is about taking baby steps to really understand and tackle some of the more difficult aspects of money management.

If you’re new or just joining us, you can recap here:

• 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 1- Create A 1 Year Financial Plan
• 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 2- Identify Your Financial Weaknesses
• 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 3- Track Every Penny Because Every Dollar Has A Job
• 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 4-Automate Your Bills
• 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Week 1 Recap
• 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 5- Make Extra Money
• 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 6- Review All Bills And Expenses
• 21 Days To Rock Your Finances: Day 7 -Zero Based Budgeting
• 21 Days to Rock Your Finances: Day 8- Trim The Fat From Your Budget
• 21 Days to Rock Your Finances: Day 9 -Review Your Credit Report
• 21 Days to Rock Your Finances: Day 10- Dispute Credit Report Errors
• 21 Days to Rock Your Finances: Day 11 -Get Out And Stay Out Of Debt