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Many people are burdened by debt today and are not sure what to do to move beyond their present financial circumstances. If you've decided to it's time to take control of your finances and reclaim your life, you don't have to do it all alone. There are many great resources out there that can assist you.

Here's a few resources that you can reach out to for help and support:

1. The National Foundation for Credit Counseling - A nonprofit organization that provides low cost credit counseling and financial education. They also have some wonderful free tools on their website. You can reach them at 800-388-2227.

2. American Consumer Credit Counselors is a non-profit organization that provides Credit Counseling, Debt Consolidation and Debt Management Services. They can often work out payment plans, renegotiate rates, balances and help you create a manageable payment plan. Their fees are determined on the basis of your ability to pay. Contact them at 800-769-3571.

3. When you are seeking the assistance of a credit counselor or debt management company, make sure they are certified with the NACCC (National Association of Consumer Credit Counselors and/or the AFCPE Association for Financial Counseling, Planning and Education.)

4.Know Your Rights - Debt collectors are not allowed to threaten, abuse or harass you. If you are being hounded by debt collectors, you can send a out a "cease and desist" letter asking them to cease contact with you. This does not, however, relieve you of the debt. But it should give you some peace.

In addition to getting the help and support you need and deserve, it is equally important to work on financial forgiveness and healing any feelings you may have about yourself or circumstances. As you work toward financial resolution in whatever way makes sense for you, you will begin to feel better about yourself and more hopeful about the future.

The path to financial forgiveness begins with one step toward resolution and another toward self-forgiveness. It is difficult to move forward and create a new financial reality if you are carrying the burden of the past along with you. So forgive, make a plan, get help and support and everyday just do your best. Then let go and let God. In time...all will be resolved.

Peace and Blessings!

When bad things happen and we experience a financial loss or hardship,  it's not unusual to want to place the blame on something or someone in order to cope with our feelings.  Anger and blame can be a way of feeling in control, but in actuality, it really only leaves us feeling powerless.

Some people lately are also blaming themselves for their financial challenges, thinking "if only I had done this" or, "I can't believe I did that" or, "what was I thinking?!!" This kind of blame only fuels our fear, anger and resentment and deepens the negative charge we have around the problem.

So, how do we release the harmful feelings and negativity around our financial circumstances?  

Forgiveness is a great tool for releasing negative thought and feelings which can be toxic and counter-productive. We are all looking for peace; peace of mind, body and spirit, right? In order to find it, it is very important to examine what our own responsibility is in the situation and to own our role in it. Once we have forgiven ourselves, it is easier to move forward to forgive others who have hurt or harmed us. 

Beliefnet contributor Joan Borysenko says that forgiveness helps us to create more empowerment, spaciousness and willingness to look at a larger point of view. Another reason to forgive is that it's good for you! According to author and forgiveness expert Fred Luskin, there is now scientific evidence that that  forgiveness can reduce anger, depression and stress, which ultimately will improve your physical and emotional health. 

 
Here are some key points to keep in mind when working through your forgiveness process.

1. Forgiveness is first and foremost for you. It is about taking back your power so that you can see and receive the good around you.

2. Forgiveness allows you to shift your perspective on what is happening. Recognize that your primary distress is coming from the hurt feelings and thoughts that are plaguing you, not what offended or hurt you ten minutes -- or ten years -- ago. Whether you are experiencing the loss of a job, your home or retirement savings, this loss is the real issue, not who did it to you. Grieving a loss is an important process in and of itself, but forgiveness is the first step. Anger often denies us access to the pain of loss. Forgiveness will help you clear the anger and resentment so that you can begin to feel the loss.

3. Forgiveness does not mean that you have to make amends with the person. They don't even have to know because it's not about them. Forgiveness offers you the opportunity to be at peace with the situation. This can be as simple as forgiving the investment company who managed your 401K, or Wall Street, or your mortgage broker. Make a list and forgive them so that you can be free of this energetically and emotionally.

4. Remember forgiveness is a process. It's not always easy and it takes time to heal. Be gentle with yourself and allow yourself to go through your own process. I recommend writing a forgiveness letter to get your feelings on paper. Through writing, you can express your feelings openly either directly to the person or even to yourself. You do not have to give the letter to the person you are forgiving, it is your own process for letting go and creating your "forgiveness story."

Ultimately, forgiveness is a step towards greater spiritual and emotional expansion. It allows you to create the space for letting go of negativie thoughts and feelings so that you can be free of the past and move forward to create the next chapter of your life.

Here's a wonderful prayer to assist you with this forgiveness process:

Dear God,

Please help me to release all judgements, resentments, mistakes and pain of the past. I no longer wish to be bound by these limitations. Help me to release the past and all its hurt so that I may once again live in peace and experience new possibilities and joy. I forgive myself and all others that may have caused me any harm. I surrender these things completely so that I may create a successful, abundant and prosperous life.

I surrender the past in order to make room to fully receive this moment and the future you desire for me. I offer my life as a clean slate into your hands. I choose to be free. Thank you for this day and this opportunity to begin again the blessing of this one great life which I willingly and gratefully receive. And so it is. Amen. 

~ Deborah Price 

Peace & Blessings!

Before the recession began a little over a year ago, credit card companies were offering some of the most attractive rates and balance transfers ever seen. Many people were using credit cards to not just supplement their lifestyles, but many also began using these offers as a means of financing their businesses.

It made sense to transfer an 8% SBA loan to a 3.99% fixed rate with a credit card company...that's quite a savings. The problem is that apparently these companies can't be trusted and their "lifetime" fixed rate offers were not worth the paper they were printed on.

As we speak, the banks that we bailed out with billions in federal loans, are now rapidly changing the rates and terms of their previous agreements and driving more and more people and small businesses into financial crisis and bankruptcy. Without cause or conscience as to the potential consequences they are creating for their customers. Customers who were paying faithfully and honoring their agreements no less.

That's right...you don't have to have been late, gone over limit, or done anything for that matter for a bank or credit card company to raise your rates, decrease your line of even increase your required minimum payment to twice it's previous amount.

Meanwhile, the new credit card law that Obama signed in May, which was meant to prevent these very practices from occurring, is not effective until July 2010. Effectively, what the government appears to have done is provided a window of opportunity to these companies to do whatever they please. By the time the law is effective, it'll no longer be needed and the damage will be done.

Personally, I think this could become the equivalent of the mortgage industry debacle that began the cycle of this economic meltdown. Millions of Americans have a credit card with a balance. If credit card companies continue with these blatantly abusive practices, the national default rates will increase. And we cannot afford another meltdown.

We greatly need to pass the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights and we need it now. I strongly urge you to contact Congress and your local representatives now. Tell them your stories and how these unethical and unfair credit practices are affecting you, your family and/or your business. Urge them to pass this new law before more Americans are driven into financial crisis and insolvency. Enough is enough.

Peace & Blessings!

One of the simplest ways to conquer your money fears is through cultivating a  "Daily Gratitude" practice. In fact, there is a great deal of scientific evidence that suggests that a daily dose of gratitude can help  reduce stress and depression. In a recent study conducted by Professors Michael McCullough and Robert Emmons, it was determined that the simple act of making a daily gratitude list can also help to increase your level of alertness, determination, optimism and energy.

I routinely have my clients make gratitude lists to combat their money fears and have seen the benefits of this personally in my practice. Sometimes it's the simple things that work the best. (Of course, in addition to daily gratitude we also need to continue taking positive actions towards improving our financial circumstances.) 

No matter how challenging your personal and financial circumstances are, a daily gratitude practice will help keep your attention focused on what you do have to be grateful for in your life.

Sometimes, we can become so hyper-focused on our difficulties that we  overlook the good things in our lives that are right in front of us. However, it is exactly during our most challenging times, that we most need to remind ourselves of the good that exists in our lives right now. A daily prayer and gratitude practice can help sustain us and see us through our most difficult times.

It is important to remember that your circumstances are not who you are, but where you are. So please don't let your circumstances define you. In time, the hard times will fade, yet what you have to be grateful for will remain, provided you haven't failed to honor and appreciate them for the true blessings that they are.

Here's what I invite you to do:

Begin each day by making a list of ten things that you are grateful for. Carry this list with you and whenever you feel anxious or stressful, take out the list as a reminder of the beauty in your life. 

Here is my "Gratitude List" for today:

    I am grateful and blessed by God's love, guidance and support.
    I am grateful and blessed for my sweet and healthy daughter.
    I am grateful and blessed for my loving husband.
    I am grateful and blessed by my dog, Goldie (she's actually an angel with fur!)
    I am grateful and blessed by purposeful work as a Money Coach, writer and teacher.
    I am grateful and blessed by my appreciative and loving friends.
    I am grateful and blessed for our home and community.
    I am grateful and blessed with a healthy mind, body and spirit.
    I am grateful and blessed by my wonderful clients.
    I am grateful and blessed by having enough of everything I need for today and for the faith that I will have enough tomorrow.

What are you grateful for today?

Share you gratitude list with me and our Beliefnet readers!

Here's a Blessing of Gratitude for today:

There is nothing I can give you
Which you do not have;
But there is much, very much, that
While I cannot give it, you can take.
No heaven can come to us unless our hearts
Find rest in today. Take heaven!
No peace lies in the future which is not hidden
In this present instant. Take peace!
The gloom in the world is but a shadow.
Behind it, yet within reach, is joy.
There is a radiance and glory in the darkness,
Could we but see.
And to see, we have only to look.
I beseech you to look.

~ Fra Giovanni (1513 A.D.)

Peace and Blessings!
 

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