24
Book I: Taking Charge of Your Finances
courthouse. You can get a rough idea of how much you owe on income taxes
by looking at copies of your income tax returns, but this method doesn't give
you the amount of penalties and interest that have accrued. Hopefully, you
have a rough idea of how much you owe on student loans. If not, find out.
When you know what you owe, use Table 1-4 to help you keep track of it.
If creditors don't how where you live, or have given up on you, don't ring
their bell by calling them. However, you may have to face the music about
the money that you owe eventually because some types of debts will not go
away. So use the time when creditors are not hounding you to plan how you
will deal with your debts. Among other options, for example, you can try to
increase your income and/or save more money so that you can eventually
contact your creditors and offer to satisfy your debts by paying a percentage
of their total amounts. You can also contact a reputable credit-counseling
organization for help working out payment plans with your creditors; or you
can look into bankruptcy as a possible solution to your financial problems.
Table 1-4
How Much Do You Owe on Other Debts?
Type of Debt
Total Amount Owed
Judgments
Income taxes
Child support and alimony
Student loans
Fines and restitution obligations
Medical bills
Credit card balances
Loans to friends and relatives
