According to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau there is an frightening amount of us seeking their guidance regarding Debt Management.

Their statistics tellus that each day England and Wales generate an extra 9,500 cases which find their way to them. The CAB also tells us there has been an rise of those seeking help with housing and benefit problems. Just about eight thousand two hundred per day need guidance urgently.
These statistics 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 despite this, some of us have to face the cold light of day. It is apparent some of us are still struggling and unable to cope with the ever rising pressure on our finances and household budget.
Fuel bills are rising, 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 icy winter, the coldest for quite some time. Those winter bills need to be paid and something tells us they will not be cheap!

The disquiet 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 an extra 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 a few cases it can be an option. But before we plunge into further debt we may want to think through the alternatives.

Credit cards are not all bad. Look out 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 prized funds into paying off interest and permit us to put that money to better use.
It can take lots of focus, research and budgeting but it is worth the struggle. If we calculate the benefits it soon becomes noticeable 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 will need 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 considering.

Another way we might free up disposable income is by Debt Consolidation. By decreasing our monthly outgoings and not having to fret about many creditors we become better able to get on with our finances. Debt Consolidation also lowers the risk of having to take on more debt.
These are some 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 charge for our own finances.
If we do then we can take advantage of coming out of the recession and not just be observers of it.

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