According to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau there is an disquieting amount of us seeking their guidance regarding Debt Management.
Their statistics show that each day England and Wales generate an further nine thousand five hundred cases which find their way to them. The CAB also tells us there has been an upturn of those seeking help with housing and benefit problems. Roughly eight thousand two hundred per day need guidance urgently.
These numbers certainly reflects the UK’s economy and how it is still early days as far as things getting better.
We are coming out of a recession but notwithstanding, lots of us have to face the cold light of day. It is apparent lots of us are still struggling and not able to cope with the ever growing pressure on our finances and household budget.
Fuel bills are growing, but wages are not increasing sufficiently and it’s that time of year again for the council tax, rent and/or mortgages to go up.
And don’t forget we have had quite a nippy winter, the coldest for quite some time. Those winter bills need to be paid and something tells us they will not be cheap!
The apprehension is, whilst there are better days ahead, we don’t fall into the temptation to borrow even more to tide us over. Credit Card Debt, remortgaging the family home or getting a new loan from the bank are all ways that will postpone those better days to come.
We may think this is the safest way as far as having a Debt Management plan is concerned and in certain cases it can be an option. But before we plunge into more debt we might want to weigh up the alternatives.
Credit cards are not all bad. Look for credit card transfers that have a 0% interest rate for a set period of time. Try to budget accordingly so you pay it off before interest is charged. This will negate the need to pour our valuable funds into paying off interest and allow us to put that money to better use.
It can take a lot of focus, research and budgeting but it is worth all the exertion. If we calculate the benefits it soon becomes plain how we can improve our debt situation.
Take a credit card that has 19.95% APR and say we have a £1000 on it. Well that is £199.50 interest we it will be necessary to pay on top of that debt, or £16.63 per month.
Now if we were to transfer that Credit Card Debt to a card that has a 0% interest rate for six months then we save £99.95. That has to be worth bearing in mind.
Another way we may free up disposable income is by Debt Consolidation. By lessening our monthly outgoings and not having to agonize about many creditors we become more able to cope with our finances. Debt Consolidation also reduces the risk of having to take on more debt.
These are just a couple of ways we can improve our own personal situation. It is all very well the claim that things are lookin up if we don’t play our part and take accountability for our own finances.
If we do then we can benefit from coming out of the recession and not only be observers of it.
Debt Management News