If you have a debt problem you would probably just like to say “Go Debt!” and make it all go away. Unfortunately things are not as simple as that and you will need to take specific and sometimes difficult decisions to get rid of your debt.
Go Debt – What is Your Current Financial Situation
You need to write down all of your debts so that you have a full picture of how much you owe. Also, you will need to do a family budget to show all of your income and costs. This will show how much (if anything) you can afford to pay towards your debt. If you can comfortably pay all your bills and your debt repayments then you don’t have a huge problem – just keep making the payments or even increase them and your debt will be gone eventually. If you don’t have enough to pay all of your repayments then you should think about seeking help from a qualified debt advisor to help you sort out your problems. Possible solutions would include bankruptcy or a debt management plan.
Go Debt – And Stay Away
You need to carefully consider what it was that got you into debt in the first place and what you can do to stop it happening again. if you don’t do this you will find the same mistakes repeating themselves.
Tags: Debt Advice, Debt Problems, go debt, living debt free
As catalogue debt offers a seemingly easy way to pay for small-value items it is a common problem area for people on low incomes. Each item that is bought seems like a small amount of money per week/month but the interest charges (whether identified separately or built in to the price of the goods) are often very high. Many people would be better off ignoring catalogues and getting their goods from discount retailers.
Catalogue Debt – What to do if You Have a Problem
If you are having difficulty making your catalogue payments, or if they are making it hard for you to pay other essential bills then you have a catalogue debt problem. Make sure that you are not giving your catalogue debts higher priority than they deserve – possibly because you see a representative of the catalogue company on a regular basis. Your priority should be to pay for essential items like mortgage/rent, food, council tax etc before paying any unsecured debt (which is what catalogue debt is).
Get advice from the Citizen’s Advice Bureau who will be able to help you with making a budget and dealing with your creditors.
Tags: catalogue debt, Debt Advice, Debt Problems
Debt fees can really make the agony of debt far worse. As soon as you start missing payments then you will find a debt fee (or a few) added to your account. If you get to the stage of having your account chased by a collection agency then you will definitely have debt collection fees (that can be quite substantial) added to your account
Debt Fees – Are They Legal?
If you want to know whether the debt fees that have been added to your account are legal then in the first instance refer back to your original credit agreement. This should contain details of the fees and charges that the creditor can add to your account in the event of you missing/being late with payments. If legal/collection action is being taken then there are usually rules on a country-by-country (or state-by-state) basis laying down what you can be charged for collection visits or court time.
Debt Fees – How to Stop Them
The only way to stop debt fees, penalties, and interest being added to your account is by negotiation with your creditors. You can do this yourself but you will find it a very difficult process. It is much better to contact a reputable debt management company or charitable organisation to do this for you. In the UK I suggest:
The Citizens Advice Bureau – with offices in most major towns/cities – find their number in the book.
The Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) – A charity that helps people with debt problems.
The Payplan Partnership - The premier debt management company in the UK – can provide advice on your situation leading to either a debt management plan or an individual voluntary arrangement.
Tags: Debt Advice, debt charges, debt fees, Debt Problems, penalty interest
