Meeting Household Resistance

 

When you are trying to get everyone to agree on a specific way to reduce the joint household debt, you may find yourself among some resistance or even some resentment. The more people in the house, the more chances you will have of one of them disagree with the whole darn thing.

It is quite possible you may even get resistance from your spouse or partner. Any member of the house could possibly resist your efforts to cut spending and reduce your debt problems. If you consider your debt problems to be serious enough, you may very well need a third party to help you solve any resistance from members of your household. Many times it only takes someone from the outside to put into perspective the issues your house may be having. Many times when you are dealing with children (in particular ones old enough to pose major resistance) they simply do not want to hear it from Mom and Dad. This is a good time to utilize someone from the outside to help get things straight and make the issues a true reality for them. You may even find that seeking the help of a family counselor is of great assistance. Whatever the level of resistance is, there is always a way to get help with it. Remember to be clear but patient. Organized and firm but understanding when you explain the household needs for reducing debt problems. Try to resolve issues within the family if at all possible. Hiring a professional may not be cheap, but if you are having major resistance issues, it will pay for itself in the long run. If you do have to hire outside help, be sure to budget for it. You could even say to any resistant household member that having to visit an outside professional will be taking from additional fund needed fro debt reduction. But, never hold this over anyone’s head as it may cause further damage. Just be certain to go through all of your options and never give up. A visit or two to a financial planner may be a good idea. This will not be a place to hold family counseling session and it may also cost you needed budget money, but if used properly, this will also pay for itself in the long run. One good thing about a financial planner is that they will lay it down for you in black and white - no grey areas.

At times, employee assistance plans and even community workshops are great outlet for getting debt assistance. Check with your human resources rep at work if you have one or libraries are great places to find information about community classes that may even be free of charge. If you have insurance, you may find that it covers family counseling services. Usually this type of coverage you will find from your insurance plan will cover a few visits within a certain period of time.

The resistance you may be experiencing and trying to confront may simply be a matter of your partner or spouse or family reacting to your approach – so again, you should be sure to approach the matter in a positive manner as we already discussed in a previous section of this debt free article. There may also be other underlying issues for the resistance you are receiving from a member or members of your household. These actual issues may be a part of how you got into the debt problems you have now. Even if you cannot get anyone to participate with you as far as outside help goes, do it alone. Your visit will usually provide you with insight as to how to better communicate with the other members of your household about financial issues and debt problems and solutions.

If you have insurance that doe not cover counseling or outside assistance, you may have to find money in your budget to cover the sessions. But before you set out with your own money to get help, be sure that you are going to the proper service – someone who can help your specific needs. As long as you are up front, clear and concise about the exact help you need (or as close to it as you can get) when interviewing a professional (can be done right over the phone for free), you will save having to pay someone and then find out you have to go to someone else for better assistance. This costs money and it is a waste of your time.

If you are having real money issues and cannot afford a counselor up front, try finding on (again – over the phone) who may work on a sliding scale. Honestly (not to label professionals in any way), you may find that a professional that is willing to work on a sliding scale is someone who genuinely wants to help people out! They are obviously not in it for the money right?

 

Part 7…

 

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