Are you struggling to meet your financial obligations? Would you like to get out of debt as soon as possible? Then you might have to use lots of different techniques to keep your lenders at bay. The advice in this article should help to make sure your finances are in order soon. You just have to take some of our suggestions and work out which will offer the best outcomes given your personal situation. Of course, you are not limited to the ideas on this page, and you should always research all the options before making your decision. Getting out of debt could take a heavy load from your shoulders, and it could also mean you have more cash to spend on your family.
Ways to reduce your debt:
- Making sure the payment you make are higher than the minimum threshold should help to reduce your debt more quickly. The longer you take the pay the money back, the more interest you will incur. You should always try to make the highest payments possible if you want to limit the amount of time you have to deal with the lender.
- Missing payments will mean you incur extra charges on top of your debt. It could also damage your credit rating. So, you need to ensure you always send the money with time to spare. Some lenders will charge anything from £10 to £100 for a late payment. If you think you aren’t going to have the money, it might be sensible to consider pay day loans. While they do not solve the problem, they could help when you are at risk of missing your deadline. So long as you know the money will be in your account soon, you can simply pay the lender back when the funds are available.
- Consolidating your debt is the best option for getting it sorted quickly if you owe money to multiple lenders. There are lots of companies out there that specialise in grouping all your debt together into one easy monthly payment. You will end up paying a little more in the end, but it will make your life easier. Best of all? The consolidation company will deal with all your creditors. Once a deal is in place, the lenders are no longer allowed to call you or send threatening letters.
- Sometimes it’s best to head to your bank and look at the possibility of getting a personal loan. That is the case if you owe money to lenders that is amassing lots of interest. Your bank offers the best rates of any lender, and so you could reduce the amount of pay by taking out a loan. Use that loan to pay all your debts, and then you simply have to keep up the monthly payments with your banking provider. It’s like a consolidation deal except you don’t have to pay such a substantial fee.
Presuming you want to pay your debts off as quickly as possible, the chances are you will need to cut back on spending. We’ve come up with some ideas that should help you to do that. Take a quick read, and hopefully everything will become clear.
Ways to cut back on spending:
- Doing your weekly food shop at budget stores could mean you save up to 50% on the items you purchase. While most of us like to eat good food, you won’t tell the difference between products from cheaper stores. Aldi is one of the most popular ones in the UK at the moment, but there are plenty of others around too. Staying away from the big names should mean you can make huge savings.
- Repairing broken items in your home will mean you don’t have to spend as much on getting replacements. If you’re unlucky enough for your TV to stop working, there is no need to shell out hundreds of pounds on a new model. Just search online to find repair businesses in your local area. The same goes for everything else. You can even repair old clothes if you learn how to sew.
- Making sure that all plug sockets are switched off in your home when you are not using them could save you around £200 per year. Doing the same thing with your lights and heating could increase that amount considerably. If you struggle to make sure everything is switched off, perhaps it would make sense to invest in some timers? Also, people who pay for their electricity via a meter should think about switching to a monthly plan. Those devices are always more expensive.
- Reducing the amount of time you spend behind the wheel could mean you save a lot of cash on fuel costs. There is no reason to use your car to visit the local shops when they are less than one mile away. You should simply walk or use a bike. Not only will that mean you have more money to give to your lenders, but it will also help to get your body in shape. We spend too much time vegetating in front of the television these days. Cycling to your local shops will help to keep you active.
Now you’ve read our ideas about getting out of debt this year, we hope you will be in the best position to get things sorted. By following our money-saving suggestions, you could have a lot more cash to give to the companies sending those threatening letters. Just remember that consolidating your debt will mean you no longer have to communicate with them. Some people find that is the best option as it reduces stress.
However you decide to progress this year, you just need to keep working towards your goal. Once your debt has been paid, you should refrain from borrowing again. There is nothing wrong with waiting a while and saving to get the items you need. That was how your grandparents did it, and they seemed happy, right? We all need to steer clear of this new lending culture that has been created during the last couple of decades.