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Many people rely on credit for big spending, such as a car or house purchase. Other people obtain loans to pay for medical bills or college studies. While credit can fix your financial shortfall quickly, it can also turn into a nightmare.

Many people have found themselves in difficult financial conditions since the Covid-19 pandemic struck. As millions of people lost jobs and thousands of businesses collapsed across the country, many families are struggling to meet their living expenses and service debts. Consequently, many people have found themselves in a debt trap and are wondering how to get out of it.

Being caught up in a debt trap can cause immense mental stress. Fortunately, people have been able to walk out of debt traps, and so can you. Millions of people have redeemed themselves out of bad financial situations through debt restructuring.

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Get out of a debt trap through debt restructuring

Many people suffer in a debt trap for not knowing that debt restructuring can offer them relief. You may need to do debt consolidation and restructuring if you have multiple loans with different tenure and interest rate.

The first step to debt restructuring is to know what you owe. Make a list of your debts with their tenure and interest rate. That should help you prioritize the repayment. It’s best to repay the most expensive debts first.

In debt consolidation, you combine multiple debts into a single debt. This can be a smart way to get out of a debt trap quickly. You can arrange a debt consolidation with your bank or creditors. You can also achieve a debt restructuring by taking a new loan with favourable terms and using the funds to pay off the multiple debts you have.

If done properly, debt restructuring should provide you with a realistic path out of a debt problem. Debt restructuring often involves securing more time to service debt by extending its repayment period. Additionally, the restructured debt may offer you a lower interest rate. Therefore, debt restructuring helps you make debt repayment more manageable.

How to avoid falling into a debt trap

You now know how to get out of a debt trap. Remember, however, prevention is better than cure. There are steps you can take to avoid getting into a debt trap in the first place.

First, try to spend within your income. That should help you reduce the need to borrow to plug a budget shortfall. If borrowing is unavoidable because of emergencies, try to avoid borrowing too much and remember to pay off the debts on time.

Automating debt payments can be a smart way to avoid falling into a debt trap. Most loans charge late payment penalties if you miss a repayment schedule. Those penalties can add up quickly and complicate your debt situation. If you automate the payment, you will reduce the debt while avoiding penalties.

You can avoid a debt trap by making an effort to increase your income to reduce relying too much on debt.

Finally, many people have avoided the debt trap by building an emergency fund. If you suddenly lose a job and have living bills to meet and loans to pay, you can quickly slide into a debt trap. But you can fare better if you’ve set aside an emergency fund that can last you several months as you look for a new job.

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