Helping you Become Debt Free
Managing debt can be a stressful, difficult experience for anyone. It’s not easy when you know that much of the money you earn each month will go straight to someone else until you’ve repaid your debt and you’re debt free.
Even so, not all debt is necessarily ‘bad’. A car loan, for example, can give you the mobility you need to take a new job, while you may need a mortgage in order to buy a house.
Having said that, a change in your circumstances (such as a fall in income or a rise in expenditure), can quite easily turn a manageable monthly payment into an unaffordable debt. So even if you’re coping with your debts today, it’s always a good idea to clear them as soon as realistically possible.
What could you do to tackle your debts and become debt free?
The very first thing you should do is create a budget. To do this, you will need to make a note of everything your household earns/receives in a month (salaries, benefits, grants, etc.). Then make a note of everything your household spends each month (mortgage/rent, secured loan payments, petrol costs, food, utility bills, etc.). It is important that you keep track of your non-essential spending too.
Having noted down your monthly income and expenditure, you should be able to see exactly where you are spending money you could be using to overpay your debts, so you could clear them more rapidly. To help you see exactly how much you could be putting towards your debts, you could add up all the potential savings - all the money you could put towards your debts if you cut back on your non-essential spending.
Remember: every pound you repay is a pound that won’t be accruing interest any longer.
If you are finding your debts difficult to manage, you should seek professional debt advice without delay. A professional debt adviser should be able to suggest a suitable solution to your debts.