The negative financial component commonly known as "Debt" is an annoyance, a thing that grabs hold and almost never lets go. It is unrelenting, just like an annoying relative who decides to endlessly bother you at a family reunion with insistent chit-chat, leaving you helpless and wanting to flee. And most of us can relate to such an occurrence all too well. Especially for individuals in a family setting, the notorious creature known as "debt" is one that lurks around and seems to be that fanciful, unsaid or meandering child that lives and more so invisibly dwells as one of the clan. Yet, despite this little being's efforts, it is for certain completely ignored, unwanted and unloved.

If Debt Were An Animal...

Debt, if existing as an official member of a family would most likely be treated as a runt. After all, debt is ill-received and slows down a family in their financial motions, both presently speaking and in terms of up and coming ventures. Eventually, and ideally so, the problematic runt -metaphorically here being, debt- would be ousted out of a family group, leaving a stronger and a less tied-down unit to live well and with more financial elbow room.

Debt and The Multiple Types of "Runts" Plaguing Families

The possibilities are endless for our family members' debt scenarios as many different types of runts find ways to crawl into our own or our families' lives. Consider sons' or daughters' college debt, a spouse's stint with a few hot credit cards or an uncle's pricey mortgage on his house in which he can no longer keep up with.

The best thing to do in any of these scenarios is to not blame them for their current financial standing or ridicule them. But, rather, it would be more appropriate to lend a helping and familiar hand rather than point a finger ,or two...or three. All that's needed here is assistance. This is not saying one should flat out provide their family members with some cold hard cash. Instead, it wouldn't be a bad idea to dish over some advice, or in the least, provide these individuals with some sort of financial plan to better lead them down a road where at the end they can consolidate their (debt) problems together to better contend.

Helping Family Members Cope With Financial Problems

Firstly, invest yourself and your time. The one thing they are probably short on is time and an outside voice to provide clarity and resolution would be monumentally stabilizing. To start a family individual on the right track an introduction toward the concept of budgeting is essential. Just review some budgeting basics and make them apply such knowledge to their financial lives, actually putting it to practice.

If financial problems are more serious and in need of more specific remedies one can easily go over a range of options with their family members in need. You can mention such options as debt consolidation, which will pile all their debt into one heaping stack, where it can be paid down, slowly but surely. Other options such as refinancing, a multitude of loan options and other monetary opportunities can be mentioned as well. And considering one has a limited knowledge of financial fix-up methods and procedures, it might be helpful to direct your relatives to a financial professional, one better versed on these subject matters, specifically a credit or financial advisor to provide some counseling.