Sure, there are tips and tricks that will help you save money, and sometimes, a surprising amount. Brown bag your lunch, make your own coffee, sleep on a purchase before making it…these are all techniques I’ve used to help us manage our spending. But sometimes you need more than tips for saving. Sometimes you see ten bills from debtors coming in a month, and no amount of home cooked meals is going to make that difference. It can be an overwhelming and depressing situation to find yourself in, I know. But every journey starts with a single step, and making the decision to start climbing out of debt is the biggest challenge in achieving financial freedom.

 Don’t get me wrong, cutting back on data plans, television channels, and steak dinners isn’t the most fun I’ve ever had. But it was actually facing my debt that was a challenge. I’d let mail collect in our mailbox for days, if not weeks, because I knew what I’d find there: bills. Bills we couldn’t pay, not in full. I’d screen my calls and never call back companies. By hiding my head in the sand of debt, I actually made my situation worse than it would have been if I’d faced it sooner. Late fees and dings to our credit score all added up to more money owed and higher interest rates if we did need to get a loan.

 Some of us can face the challenge of paying down debt alone, but I needed help, and I found it at Afena. And talking with the staff there about my debt gave me the courage to call those other companies that I owed money to, and that’s when I realized, they’re human too. Most the time, if you’re willing to work with them, they’re willing to work with you. If you’re facing what feels like an overwhelming amount of debt, reach out. Whether it’s talking to your family and support network about your goal to conquer your debt, or walking into Afena to talk about debt consolidation, there is help out there. I’m Claire, the Afena blog mom. Thanks for reading.