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.