It used to be the case that only low income families lived paycheck to paycheck. As the recession strikes deeper into the economy, the problem is spreading upwards through the middle class. The majority of people in the US have no savings and are currently unable to save any money after paying all the bills. If, for any reason, the regular paycheck is delayed or lost – say, through illness or unemployment – people will not be able to continue their lifestyles unless they borrow. This leaves them very vulnerable because, with only unemployment and other benefits available for a short time from the state, existing and all new debt quickly becomes unaffordable. This makes it sensible to plan for a financial emergency. The alternative is panic and decisions taken too fast to ensure they are the right decisions. So now is the right time to sit down quietly and work out what you would do if there was a real emergency. It might be an accident like a fire at home, or a sudden illness or perhaps a family breakdown threatening divorce. Whatever the cause, you should have a plan.

So what should go into the plan? If you have assets, you need to decide what can be sold and what should be kept. Sometimes, you keep an asset like your home because it is necessary as a place to live. Equally, you can sell an asset because it costs too much in maintenance and upkeep. The best plans set a list of priorities. That you fight to keep some assets and aim for the best price you can get for the others. Once the cash starts to come in from this forced liquidation, you now have to decide what to do with the money. Some debts carry high rates of interest. Paying them down as quickly as possible can save you a great deal of pain later on. But you must always look at the big picture. If your current review finds many debts, most with high rates of interest, a good strategy is to try negotiating a consolidation of those debts while your credit score and general finances are in a reasonably good state. If you wait until your income is disrupted, lenders are not going to be so willing to offer you new loans. Packing as many of your current short-term liabilities into one longer-term loan can not only save you money now, but also give you a good buffer against bankruptcy should an emergency occur.

All this to avoid the need to take a payday loan or its high-interest equivalent as a solution to a financial emergency. It’ easy to tell yourself that, should there be a small to moderate crisis, everything can be solved by a short-term loan. The problem with this view is that the costs of these loans quickly run into interest payments of more than 100%. The statistics show that people who take what is supposed to be a bridging loan to tide over for one month end up in debt for ten or eleven months. Having a plan helps you avoid being caught in the debt trap.

There’s a simple rule when it comes to debts. Unless the debt is interest free, continuing to borrow the money is costing you money. If you can earn interest on savings or get a return on other investments, it usually benefits you to pay off the debts and invest your money. Except, if you are overpaying to reduce your debts this can leave you short if there should be an emergency and some lenders dislike people repaying more quickly than they should and charge fees and impose penalties for early repayment. So, applying the general rule, you should always pay off the most expensive loans first. That means those store cards, credit cards and high interest loans you are carrying. Under normal circumstances, mortgage interest tends to be less than commercial loans.

So, for these purposes, let’s assume you have few credit card debts and some savings. What are your options? One is to use the savings to reduce your mortgage debt. This immediately reduces the interest you pay and it will help if you are thinking about refinancing. Property values have been falling fast. In fact, at the time of writing in May 2009, the market has probably not yet bottomed out. That means your loan to value ratio has been falling. Even though you might have had a mortgage for years, you may now find the current balance of the loan is worth more than 90% of the resale value of the property. This will make finding new finance difficult. Even when the ratio is between 80 and 90%, the interest rate is likely to be quite high to reflect the risk of further falls in property values. If you have a capital sum that will lower the amount borrowed, this will make the chances of refinancing at a cheaper rate possible. However, before you pay, make sure you know when the mortgage interest is calculated. You need to ensure you make the capital repayment at a time when you will get the maximum reduction in interest. Also check to see whether there are penalties if you make an early repayment of part of the principal.

The other factor is practicality. Once you pay a lump sum into the mortgage, that money is locked up. If there’s an emergency of some sort, that forces you to borrow all money needed at higher rates of interest. With the current recession in full flow, unemployment is rising fast. It can be worth having some capital set aside to live on should you lose your job or fall ill. In particular, you should have enough to cover your mortgage repayments for six months should your income dry up. So you can save on your mortgage by overpaying installments or paying a lump sum, but it’s not for everyone. Sit down and do the math to see whether it’s really for you. But, if you are looking at mortgage refinancing, having a lump sum to hand makes a very good bargaining chip in both getting a new deal and getting that deal at a low interest rate.

When buying their homes, most people never really think about the costs of insurance. Yet the building you choose has a direct effect on the amount of premium you will pay to insure it. Where you buy is critical. Should there be a track record of hurricane, tornado or flood damage in the area, many insurance companies will either not offer insurance or will want high rates to match the increased risks of a claim for storm damage. Now come to the age of the property and the building materials used. Older buildings may have an ageing electrical system more likely to catch fire and a plumbing system more likely to leak. So you should never finalize your decision to buy any property until you have competitive quotes from local insurance on what the annual premiums are likely to be. In today’s market where there are difficulties in finding mortgages, you may not be able to finance the purchase of a new place to live. This at a time when there are thousands of properties about to be or actually foreclosed going at eye-poppingly low prices. Never allow yourself to be seduced by the purchase price. Always look at the hidden costs of ownership as well.

To reduce the costs of insuring your existing home, start by shopping around to get as wide a set of quotes for renewing as possible. Always make sure you get quotes you can compare, i.e. always use the same set of information when using the online sites or completing a questionnaire on a site operated by an insurance company directly. That way you always compare like with like. Then get a different set of quotes for an increased deductible or for combining your home and auto insurance with the same company. There are several different packages available from insurers that will give you a discount. If you are in doubt, start talking directly with the insurance companies that seem to be offering the best terms. That way, you can explore what’s on offer with a human being and get a better idea on how much you can save. There’s just as big an incentive to get new business for the companies and many offer welcome discounts to encourage people to switch their policies.

In all this, make sure you are insuring at the right value. Remember, the insurable amount is the cost of rebuilding not the purchase price you paid which includes the value of the land. Even though the resale value may have fallen in the recession, this does not mean the cost of rebuilding has fallen. Before you firm up on your home insurance policy, talk to some local builders to get guideline quotes for rebuilding costs. It may also be worth spending some money to make your home more secure against burglary, and renewing old wiring and plumbing systems. The better your property is able to withstand storm damage, the cheaper the premiums. So, to sum up, always shop around by using the free insurance quote sites, getting as many insurance quotes as possible before deciding which policy to buy, renovating and rebuilding where it will save you money in the longer term. That way, you should maximize your insurance savings.

When the going is good, the majority simply renew their existing policies or spend only a few minutes buying a new policy. Saving a few dollars is less important when credit is flowing freely. But now we are in a recession and every dollar matters, it’s time to look more carefully at how we spend our dollars on insurance. The first step is to shop around. That way, you will find out for certain whether you are paying too much. When you talk to the insurers and research their companies, remember to ask about the claims process. This is not just about saving money on the premiums. It’s also about avoiding stress when it comes to a claim. Every state has an insurance department or commissioner. Many publish the results of complaints against the companies licensed to sell insurance in each state. This gives you valuable information on the quality of service you are likely to receive from each company.

Now let’s look at shaving dollars off the premiums. Start with the amount of deductible. The higher the amount you are prepared to pay should there be a claim, the lower the premium. Then look at the discounts. You will get significant reductions if you insure more than one vehicle with the same company or insure both your vehicles and home together. Similarly, you should look for a discount if you have been a safe driver, have no tickets and have not made a claim in the last five years. Some cars cost less to insure, particularly if you have an antitheft device fitted. Some companies offer lower premiums for older drivers and for women – statistically, both groups have fewer accidents.

Now you have to make hard decisions about the vehicles themselves. If you have decided to cut your costs by keeping the same car, think about whether you still need comprehensive or collision cover as the car ages. There will come a point when the maximum deductible grows closer to the value of the car. At this point, it’s more cost effective to drop the comprehensive cover. Then, look to buy “safer” vehicles. High-powered cars cost more to insure than “family” cars that are less fun to drive but still get you where you need to go. This, combined with a clean driving record, will always get you the maximum insurance savings. So, always shop around. There are a lot of sites giving free auto insurance quotes. This identifies the companies offering a good premium. Make up a short list from the companies offering the best insurance quotes. Then, to get the best deal, it’s always down to the telephone to negotiate with a human being at each company. You can only get so far on the internet. The sites are programmed to respond with the answers to the most often asked questions. You are asking a lot of questions about how to save money. This needs a human decision-maker to give you the best results. When you have talked to three or four of the “best” companies, make a decision. Then, you can drive happily for the next year knowing you have the best value-for-money policy available.

In the days when credit was cheap, anyone with a secure job paying a check every month could borrow. There were still millions on or below the poverty line, but the majority in the US could buy what they needed and then some. People did still get into trouble. But, mostly, banks and finance companies were forgiving. They just added a penalty or two, and increased the interest on what was owing. Life was only rarely interrupted by bankruptcy. Today, people live from paycheck to paycheck. Unemployment threatens everyone, even the middle class. Foreclosures and evictions mean that people are no longer secure in their homes, and bankruptcies are more routine. Some will get too deep into debt and it’s not their fault. There are accidents and illnesses. With the recession, millions have been thrown out of work. Their problems are not of their own making.

The recession is more than a year old and anyone who has not changed their ways is either seriously rich or deluding themselves. Looking around the bookstores still in business, there are new books and magazines offering helpful advice on how to cope. There are radio and television programs with experts talking good common sense solutions. There’s even the internet with useful articles like this. People no longer have ignorance as an excuse. Those Chicken Littles whose problems are self-inflicted will get no sympathy when the sky falls on them. But those who have used the internet or professional counselors to get guidance on how to manage and consolidate their debts are far more likely to get a constructive response from lenders. So where should you start? There are a wide range of Consumer Credit Counseling Services, legal aid and other non-profit groups prepared to offer advice and help to reduce indebtedness. But a word of warning – many dishonest people have been setting up in the counseling business to take the fees and leave the “suckers” deeper in debt. Before you approach anyone for help and advice, check them out. Make sure they are members of a reputable regulatory body before you sign up for their programs.

Debt management is difficult, but everything is possible if take a responsible and disciplined approach. At this point, you run into a distinction between personal management and the renegotiation of liabilities with your creditors. There are many things you can do to save money on your household budgets and make it easier to keep your payments up-to-date. But there comes a point when you cannot manage your own way out of the problem. A professional counselor will always look at the big picture, and aim to consolidate and simplify all your liabilities into a package that’s easier to manage. But one basic rule always applies. Unless you are literally penniless, always pay something to your creditors. Even if you have a counselor trying to negotiate a solution, pay something. It shows good will and a responsible attitude to your liabilities. That, more than anything else, is going to get you through to a successful conclusion and is our debt settlement tip of the day.