Using Social Media To Get Out Of Debt: Dos And Don’ts
When you were young, your grandparents balked at how little you hesitated to enter your credit card information online to make purchases or even enter your bank account number in an online form in order to receive direct deposit payments from your job. Today, social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Facebook are an inescapable part of life, and not only are they a vector for impossible beauty standards, Schadenfreude about former classmates, and outrage about matters great and trivial, they are also full of opportunities to incur debt and possibly even to pay it back. If you click on enough loss leader promotions or fall in love with enough aspirational products that those 30-second videos make look so irresistible, you will end up with an even bigger mountain of debt that you got simply from paying your household bills. Social media might even be able to help you get out of debt, but probably not in the ways that the personal finance influencers of Tik Tok would have you believe. A Miami debt lawyer can help you fact check the debt repayment advice you heard online.
Do Seek Out Income-Generating Opportunities Online
There are worse things you can do with your idle time than browse job listings and gig listings on social media. Especially when it comes to work tasks that require the platform that you use, work opportunities on social media are plentiful. (For example, if the job requires an Instagram account, where better to find job candidates than Instagram?) If you have an especially thick skin about mean-spirited comments, you can even monetize your own content. You can turn your quick, inexpensive recipes into videos that generate thousands of views, leading to a robust side hustle that can help you pay off your debt.
Don’t Follow Personal Finance Advice Uncritically
The short video format on Tik Tok makes it so that personal finance advice videos have no choice but to oversimplify matters. For example, a popular video on the snowball method of debt repayment (the method where you put as much money as possible toward paying off your smallest outstanding debt, then move to the next smallest after you pay off the first, and so on) does not mention that you need to continue making at least the minimum payments on your other debts. This omission caused some viewers to default on some debts while paying off others. Likewise, state laws about matters such as wage garnishment vary from one state to another, and no two loan agreements are exactly alike. You should do some more in-depth research before acting on the advice you hear on social media.
Do Take Inspiration From Other People’s Experiences
People turn to social media for a sense of community. Listening to other people’s stories about debt repayment may help you find the motivation to find a way to pay off your debts even while prices are high and wages are low. If you think of the personal finance videos on Tik Tok as camaraderie instead of advice, and realize that you will have to find your own solution to your debt problems, you can’t go wrong.
Contact a South Florida Debt Lawyer About Getting Out of Debt in the Springtime of Your Life
A South Florida debt lawyer can help you choose the best repayment strategy, no matter your age and your favorite social media platform. Contact Nowack & Olson, PLLC in Miami, Florida to discuss your case.
Source:
cnet.com/personal-finance/these-tiktok-tips-could-cost-you-money-and-land-you-in-legal-trouble/
