Many are struggling with their finances in the wake of the events of 2020. How can you get back on top of it and save what is most important to you?
With even the biggest companies dealing with bankruptcy and business interruptions finding it harder to juggle your own finances isn’t something to be ashamed of. What’s important is to tackle the problem quickly and make the best of it.
Since the coronavirus lockdowns began in early 2020 millions of American households have found their income impacted, and debt rising as they borrowed to stock up on essentials and cover cash flow gaps. Now, as many as 30% of renters and homeowners are behind on their housing payments. Now that a lot of the stimulus and help is ending, while incomes haven’t caught up, the big question for many is how to make ends meet and how to prioritize finances now.
Getting Help
In crisis times it is wise to cut expenses as much as possible. Cancelling unnecessary subscriptions and finding cheaper alternatives to necessities is a smart start.
That may only take you so far. So, next it is asking creditors for help. Some are still willing to provide some relief. It may take several attempts, but some lenders may offer the ability to skip payments, pause accounts, or work out better terms. This is true of your credit card companies, auto loan lenders and mortgage company. Unfortunately, while some towns and counties in NY are giving themselves almost $1M pay raises and are halting payments on their own debts, none seem to be voluntarily offering much help to those who offer property taxes. In fact, they only seem to be raising property taxes.
Prioritizing Your Finances
If your finances just aren’t balancing, the best option may be to try to increase your income. Can you find a second job, start a side hustle, or perhaps switch to a reverse mortgage which pays you every month instead.
If that still isn’t working, then you may need to prioritize which bills you will pay, and acknowledge which you may have to delay or pause paying.
Late payments or defaulting on credit cards, unsecured personal loans and then car loans may have the least impact on your credit for the long term.
You may be able to live without many of these things, but you’ll always need a home. Once your credit is impacted it becomes extremely difficult to rent or buy a new home. So, the last thing you want to be late on or stop paying is anything which can risk your home.
If you do fall behind on your mortgage payment, New York has a notoriously long foreclosure process. That can work in your favor.
Unfortunately the same isn’t true when you fall behind on property taxes. You may lose your home in half the time due to past due taxes than failure to pay your mortgage.
Using Your Property Taxes To get Back On Track
The good news is that you are probably being over-billed for property taxes every year.
Why is that good news? If you appeal, then you can use those savings to catch up on all of your other bills. It may be enough to get your mortgage and other bills back on track. It can certainly reduce your housing expenses every year and make sure you can keep your home.
Get in touch with Property Tax Adjusters, Ltd. today to find out how much you can save.