Welcome to Debt Advice Trust Blog

When you are struggling for money with debt repayment it can be very tempting to succumb to so called “easy options” such as ‘pay cheque’ loans or ‘pay day loans’ as they are sometimes called. These services act on the premise that you take out a short-term loan (for a month or so) and you pay them back within a set amount of days. This seems like a good option but whatever ever you do – no matter how strapped for cash you are DO NOT take on any further debt, especially this kind of debt.

Interest rates or (APR) for these kind of loans are extortionately high, on average 50% sometimes as much as 96% - meaning on a £2000 loan you will pay back in excess of £3700 – in one month.

Charges are usually hidden or not explained correctly and these types of schemes are aimed at people struggling with money – they do not aim to help you, like they suggest, they aim to make as much money off you in as short amount of time as possible.

If you are struggling with debt, find help via the correct channels with sensible, free Debt Help from a reputable debt advice agency who can give you honest, impartial advice and will not charge you excess hidden fees for such services.

There are a lot of companies out there who try to scare you into purchasing policies from them when in reality you do not need them. By avoiding these schemes you can start managing debt by prioritising your spending.

We live in the times, when children expect a Nintendo Wii for ‘one’ of their Christmas presents, anything less just will not do. Research shows that the average Christmas shopper spends £384 on Christmas presents. Those aged 35-44 years-old are likely to spend the most with an average present bill of £570.

Other average costs are as follows:

My friend Kerry has recently had her first child. This four month baby has designer footwear clothing, hundreds of toys, while her Mother is dressed in worn and torn clobber that you are more likely to see a hobo dressed in. Due to her obsessive spending on luxury items for her offspring, she is now behind on her council tax, and now has to face up to the hundreds of pounds spent on her credit cards.

Consolidation Loans are one way of becoming debt free, but not the only option to consider. Get Debt Advice from a company or organisation you can trust.

You have left this world and stepped through the golden gate in the sky, your family are grieving your loss and after stumping up a on your funeral, they receive a call from your creditors asking for the thousands you have accumulated over the years.

No, debt doesn’t follow you to the grave; your poor next of kin is burdened with the debt. It is all too common for people to accumulate debt with little or no thought for the future. A great number of people believe that when you die, your debts will be written off. This is, not the case. In fact, the death of the debtor has little effect on the debt itself.

Being confronted by debt after losing a partner is particularly difficult to cope with because on top of their financial problems they are suffering from emotional trauma.

If you are in debt now start looking how to rectify the problem, before you pass it on to someone else. Maybe look at an IVA. IVA stands for Individual Voluntary Arrangement. It is one of the most popular Debt solutions being used in the UK. The benefits of an IVA when compared to Bankruptcy are many, but you should talk to a trained expert to find out which debt solution is best for you.

I have discovered that debt and spending is a never ending spiral that can get out of control. When you are feeling depressed or a bit low, it is a very common pattern to treat yourself to a shopping spree. Debt is a very disheartening circumstance to be in.

A shopping addict will apply for several credit cards and store cards, will not think of them as ‘real money’ and go out on a compulsive spend, often purchasing many items they do not need. They will then receive the bill, become low and go out again to combat the depression.

Compulsive shopping or spending is also known by the scientific term 'oniomania'. Debt can take the glimmer from life. Getting Debt Help is the first step to becoming debt free.

Being able to curb your spending is the first step. If you was on a diet, you would stop going to MacDonald’s, the temptation is to overwhelming, so it is probably a good idea restrict yourself from going anywhere near a shop.

Debt Help should come in the form of free impartial advice. There are 'not for profit' organisations and charities that want to help you find the right Debt solutions.

I am a smoking; ironically I am also in debt. I have always thought of smoking as an expensive habit, but until today, I never realised the extremity of wasted money. I t really is in comparison to reaching into my pocket, pulling out a five pound note, and setting it on fire.

I scoured the internet for a calculator to inform me of the
cost of my addiction and the results, based on one packet of twenty a day, average price of £5.20, were £1898 a year.

To start getting out of debt, I need to become smoke free. There is help out there to stop smoking, but there are also little known debt charities. Debt Helpshould come in the form of free impartial advice. Stopping smoking is one of the first steps to becoming debt free and continuing to be so.

If you have the constraint not to spend it, how about putting the money every day, that you would spend on a packet of cigarettes in a jar, and watch the money mound up.

The Office of Fair Trading published statistics today that showed that there were 33% more complaints about heavy-handed debt collectors in the last year. Debt collectors have been accused of everything from chasing people for debts they did not owe to coming to people’s home late at night or early in the morning.

According to the debt collection agencies, this is because as the UK’s economy gets tighter and bills get harder to pay, more and more debt collectors are needed, so there is more room to make mistakes, and the agencies are often given wrong information.

If you are having problems with debt collectors at the door, you need to act immediately. Call the Debt Advice Trust debt helpline to work out how you can start to sort out your debt. If you are seriously in debt, you may be advised on an IVA, which means that debt collectors can no longer call on you. If you think you are being chased for a debt you do not owe, call Consumer Direct, as they may be able to help.

Following up on Lou Lou’s excellent post about giving children debt advice, I noticed this great newspaper article talking about the huge expectations that UK teenagers have about their lives after university.

Essentially, the article says that a long-term study of 8,500 teenagers showed that they all believed that by 25 they would be earning GBP 31,000 a year and would own their own homes and cars. In reality, the average salary for 25-year-olds is GBP 17,817. On top of that, they actually owe around GBP 12,363 in student debt.

One of the main reasons identified for this is that teenagers are actually quite ignorant about money – many of them questioned in this study could not say which of four possible loans was the best deal. Presumably, they are also not aware of the causes of debt or how best to deal with the debt they currently have without ending up owing more.

Clearly, it’s time we started talking to our teens about money!

The best way to keep your kids’ finances looking healthy in future is to start teaching them about the causes of debt as soon as possible. You should probably also make sure that your children know where to get debt help if they ever need it in future.

Three top suggestions for money-savvy kids:

Pocket money

Giving your children a set amount of money every week – and no more. They’ll soon learn to think carefully about what they want to spend money on.

Make them work for it!

Older children in particular will benefit from doing chores round the house in return for some extra cash. This teaches that money only comes to those who work for it.

Get the piggy bank out

Children need to learn that if they want something special, they must save for it. This ensures that they won’t grow up with a ‘buy now, pay later’ mentality.

Get them while they’re young – kids are brilliantly adaptable and will easily learn the basics of managing their money.

If you’re missing the repayments on your loans and credit cards there are some things you should think about before looking for debt solutions. Missing payments can lead to a bad credit rating which will affect your future chances of being rewarded credit, so it is important that you think your options through.

Budget planning is your most potent tool in fighting debt. You need to know exactly how much money you have coming in and how much you have going out. If you know your budget well you may be able to make some cut backs to better afford the repayments and make sure no more are missed. If it isn’t possible to make changes to your budget you could try speaking to the companies you owe money to. It may be possible to have the payments lowered, but it is likely that in doing this you will be making payments for longer than originally agreed.

If you are unable to free up some money to make the payments then you might consider approaching a Debt Consolidation, but it is worth remembering that once you are with such a company you cannot get other help. You are placed into a contract and the arrangement is placed on your credit rating. The amount you pay is also greater than you total debt, as they charge interest. If you are in a large amount of debt this may be the only way of affording your repayments, but it should not be taken as a light option. If you miss repayments on their contract, there are no further options of help.

If at all possible, attempt to control your debt within your own budget, before looking for more official help.