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Does debt have to be an accepted facet of contemporary living? For the majority, the sad answer appears to be yes. While this is a reality, there is no doubting the fact that a lot of debt is avoidable.

1: As consumers we each have unlimited wants and desire things that we don't really need. It is a good idea to ask yourself if you really need what you are buying before parting with any cash. You may look at your car each day and feel that it would be nice to have a new one, but do you really need one? If it isn't breaking down or covered in rust the chances are is that it is on your 'wish list' rather than a necessity. Most people haven't got ten grand sitting in their bank account which means that they will need a loan. If you have bad credit you could easily end up paying 27% APR. If you are paying out £350 per month for a car you are buying today you have to remember that you will forego that money tomorrow.

2: Do you have credit cards? Many of these will be accruing interest at very high rates. If you are only paying the minimum amount each month you will find that your balance will not be paid off for 30 years. Why not take advantage of an interest-free credit card and transfer the balance across? If you keep doing this you will save yourself hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds. If you don't have good credit, why not pay the debt off with your savings? If you are struggling to keep control of your finances the simple answer is to write to the credit card provider to close down the account or reduce the credit limit.

3: Millions of people have both debts and money sitting idly in their bank accounts. It doesn't make sense to have £20,000 in a bank account earning 0.1% when you have a £20,000 debt with an APR of 17%. Pay off the debt and it will save you £3380 for each year of the loans duration. Simply save the money you would have used to pay off the loan into an Individual Savings Account (ISA) and you will be vastly better off in the long run.

4: When you took out a mortgage there is a high chance that it originally had a favourable fixed rate that has now expired. If you are now paying Standard Variable Rate (SVR) you will be paying hundreds of pounds extra each and every month. If your credit is good the best thing you can do is get a remortgage. There will be a few additional costs to begin with but you will save several thousand pounds in the first few years alone.

5: If you do find yourself in a position where you need to borrow money for an emergency try to borrow money from your family first. They will almost certainly get you a better rate and may not charge you any interest at all. If you do run into financial difficulty your family will be a lot more tolerant of your problems than a financial institution, especially if that debt has been sold on to a debt management company.

These few simple measures could potentially save you thousands of pounds every years of your life. The longer you delay in taking action and making a few lifestyle changes the more it will ultimately cost you.