The Debt Advice Online Blog

With Christmas less than a month away, the shops are already in hyperdrive with 20 – 25% sales to lure you in ahead of Christmas. Pressure to buy great presents, and make it a happy time always makes it difficult to balance your budget.

Temptation is everywhere. The message seems to be to buy presents with big discounts, and if you can’t afford it, then a new credit card deal is ready to help out.

Don’t think “I just need to get through Christmas” because January is just around the corner and it is usually the cruelest month for bills.

We decided we would get together and come up with our Credit Crunch busting Christmas ideas to make a great Christmas without being burdened by greater debts .

Firstly it’s time to start thinking like your grandparents and figure out how you can spend time rather than money on your presents. Perhaps get a favourite photograph framed. Better yet, make the frame yourself. You’ll be surprised that the reaction from the recipient will usually be greater than if you waltzed into a high street and bought the most expensive thing you could afford. Maybe think about making Christmas decorations yourselves. Time to get all Blue Peter.

If you are asked for present ideas for yourself, we recommend you ask for vouchers. That way, once the dust of Christmas has settled you will be able to pick up some bargains in the January sales. As you probably know, you would only have to wait one or two days for the sales to start anyway!

If this the time you usually book your summer holiday. We recommend you hold off until nearer the time. With the travel industry desperate for customers, you’ll be sure to get some last minute bargains in 2009, and you’ll help your wallet at this expensive time of year.

Some smaller tips that will help keep costs down. Make sure you don’t leave lights on in rooms not being used, or have the heating on too high if you can help it. You could save hundreds on your next quarterly bill.

The biggest gift we recommend you give yourself this Christmas is the gift of being debt free. Whether its credit cards, loans or worse, you will be glad to get rid of that horrible feeling you get when someone mentions Credit Cards or when you hear more depressing news about the economy.

If you need to talk to someone about getting out of debt, then hop over to our advice page and find out a bit more about it.
Technorati Tags:
buying presents on credit card, christmas debt, christmas money guid, gettting out of debt, xmas debt
Add to: | Technorati | Digg |

With the economic crisis deepening, I am probably not the only one to notice a worrying trend, that the amount people owe on their credit cards is actually increasing! According to the Bank of England’s statistics, the UK’s consumer debt has risen to record levels this autumn, having risen by £300m between August and September alone.

I don’t know about you, but I’m worried. This is a terrible trend given the Credit Crunch we are in. The one thing you don’t want to do in a time like this is to get further into debt!

I know there are many people out there who are struggling to make ends meet, and just to feed their family and pay the bills, they are living beyond their means and resorting to extra loans or credit cards to temporarily get them out of trouble. But as I’m sure you know, this will lead to an ever increasing spiral of debt. Couple that with the inevitable recession we are about to enter and it could spell disaster for many people.

So what can you do about it?

First of all you, the simplest step is to take a good look at your outgoings and see if you can cut back on items that are not essential. You’ll be surprised at what a difference that can make.

If you’ve cut back all you can and still you are falling short each month, perhaps your lender is increasing their interest rate on your existing loans or your credit card’s introductory period has expired, then you can think about consolidating your debt into one lower monthly amount. These so-called Debt Management plans are very useful to a lot of people stuck in real debt trouble.

A good debt advice service will recognise from the information you give them that you are struggling with your payments and will propose a plan whereby you only pay what you can realistically afford once your essential costs have been factored in (mortgage, utilities, food etc). Your lenders then get a copy of your financial statement to ensure that you are paying the maximum you can afford to pay once your essential living costs are factored in, and then you are able to make ends meet once more.

If you are looking for this kind of debt advice, then there’s some fantastic information on our main site under Debt Management.

That’s all for now, but in the meantime, I know times are getting tough for everyone, myself included, but try to decrease any debts you have.