Take a look at your salary. It’s much easier to divide the usage of it isn’t it? That’s because you’ll get it every month in the same amount without thinking that you could get less of it.

Besides your salary, there are other things that you could get on a monthly basis that could give you a constant income, such as a long-term insurance and lottery. Yes, you read it right. Lottery is one of the things that you could get on a monthly basis if you really win one. The government already made it clear that the lottery winner will get the structured settlement of the money that they win. It’s the same with your long-term insurance that you’ll receive every month after you retired. The question is, why would the government do that?

Well, let’s clear our head first before we dig deeper. The government doesn’t want to take all of your money. It’s true that they will get the share of themselves. But their main motive is to protect you from your own money. Do you ever see the people who already win the lottery and get the money in one lump sum than the structured settlement? They spend their money like water. They think because they have lots of money, they’re free to do whatever they want.

They’re not wrong, but they should think further than that. when you win a lottery, you’ll see that people who never know about you before will acted like your best friend, and the there are so many people that asks for your charity. As a good people with massive sums of cash, you’ll think that you could help all of them. What about the result? You’ll have less money than you have before the lottery winning in three days.

That’s why the government set up the structured settlement for you. They want to protect the money from you and from other people that use you. Having the structured settlement could also make your life easier. How come? Well, you simply have 30 days to think about where you should spend your next income. It’s also gives you a chance to tracking down your expenses and give a break for yourself to spend all of the money that you had.

The very first thing you should do after you get the money is hiring a consultant and a bookkeeper. They will help you planning your financial life in several years forward and then keep the record of what you’ve done.

You could also open some investment plans with your money to give a more secure feeling about your money and your future. Planning your life carefully and don’t let your money run like water out of your hand.

Many people think to declare their bankruptcy after they faced big financial problems in their life. They usually feel that they have no choice but to do it. However, you should think that bankruptcy is the last thing you want to do where there’s no way back.

If you’re in a dead end and you don’t know what to do, you need to take a deep breath first. Run the options to get out of your financial problems in your head. If you’re still lack of options, consider some of these: debt negotiation, debt settlement, debt consolidation, and refinancing.

1. Debt Negotiation

You could negotiate your debt with your creditor and ask them ether to lower the monthly payment or the interest rate. This will not erase all of your debts, but you could at least make it more affordable to pay. Creditors often have no problem with it as long as you pay their money back. You could tell your problem that you’re considering to filling for bankruptcy but decide to talk to them first. You could also ask them to waive the late fees or finance charging during your negotiation period.

2. Debt Settlement

This is the best way to settle down your debt out of the court. You need to find a good and reputable company to help you negotiate with your creditor. Your goal is to reduce the money that you owed. The creditor usually has no problem to lessen the amount of money that owed them, especially if they knew that you’re going to filling out for bankruptcy if they don’t accept your offer. Prepare some cash at hand to make the deal “sealed” between both of you and your creditor, and then tell them to close the account.

3. Debt Consolidation

If you have so many debts with various interests, you could take a debt consolidation. Debt consolidation will allow you to combine all of your debt into a single monthly payment. Usually you don’t need a good credit record for this debt consolidation loan, that’s why this is one of the good options for you before you declare the bankruptcy. Don’t forget to cut your credit cards until there’s only one or two credit cards left. The low monthly payment of debt consolidation could make you sink deeper if you’re not managing your money carefully.

4. Refinancing

You could get additional money from your house by refinancing it. Of course before you do that, you need to check out whether you have any equities in it or not. You could use this money to pay all of your debt if not minimize it. When you do this, you only have to pay a smaller and affordable monthly payment. However, there is one point that you need to remember. Don’t use the money to buy other things that you don’t need. Pay all of your debt first, and after that, use the leftover to pay for groceries or your kid’s school.

After you consider each options that you have in mind, but you’re still running out of numbers, that’s the point where you should declare for bankruptcy.