Don’t be afraid to look for debt advice
If you are finding your debts difficult to manage, it's a good idea to look for some professional debt advice as soon as you can. Basically, the sooner you act, the sooner you'll be on the road to tackling your debts - and clearing them once and for all.
When should I look for debt advice?
As a general rule of thumb, you should look for professional debt advice at the first sign that you're having difficulty with your debts. So, if you're finding it hard to make one or more of your debt repayments, or if it looks like you may experience trouble in a few months' time, you should look for debt advice as soon as possible.
Even if you can't see any immediate signs of trouble, there could still be signs of problems to come. If, for example, you regularly pay your bills at the last possible moment, or you're always in your overdraft come the end of each month, you should take extra care to make sure you get your finances back on track before this turns into a real problem.
What debt advice is actually available?
You may be surprised to discover how much advice/help there actually is available for people in debt.
When you seek professional debt advice, your adviser will assess your situation and recommend the best course of action for you to take.
You may find that a simple re-organisation of your finances is enough to help. For example, you may be advised to create a budget (if you haven't got one already, of course), which can help you ensure you have enough money set aside each month for your essential costs, and can help you work out how much money you can safely spend on non-essential goods/services, without taking up the funds you need for your debt payments or other financial commitments.
On the other hand, your situation may be more serious. In this case, your debt adviser may suggest a specific debt solution that could help you tackle your debts and make them manageable again - a debt management plan, for example, or an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement).
Just bear in mind that different debt solutions will come with their own 'pros and cons' (such as damage to your credit rating, for example, or a greater overall cost of clearing the debts) and there's no simple way of knowing which debt solution would be right for you without talking it over with a professional debt adviser, who can go over your circumstances with you and help you figure out the best way of tackling your problems.
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