Clearing Your Debts

Getting out of debt is tough, make no mistake. Many individuals spend their whole lives trying to get out of debt - and some fail. That’s not a statement to deter you, that’s just reality. The problem is, people don’t get out of debt because they cannot afford to - they don’t get out of debt because of bad debt and overall money management. Many people make the mistake of thinking they can just keep making the odd payment here and there and that it will somehow all add up eventually and they’ll be debt free. This unfortunately doesn’t happen. The mistake people make is that they pay some money off and then go and spend even more on it the following month. For example, someone will pay £200 off a credit card one month, think they’re clearing their debt and then the following month, go and spend £300 on it without a second thought. Nobody remembers what they purchase and are only informed when they see their total debt figure going up and up.

If you’re serious about getting out of debt, particularly when it comes to credit cards, the first thing you need to do is stop spending on them. Paying debt off your card and then putting even more on it isn’t going to get you anywhere, at all. If you stop using your cards, your debt isn’t going to grow (apart from the interest). If you then start making regular payments, lump sum payments, onto the card, you will get yourself out of debt a lot quicker.

Of course, not all people have the luxury of being able to make significant lump some payments against their debts. In this situation, debt consolidation is the best option. If you consolidate the debt into a single payment that can be met easily each month, you can at least use the money allocated for servicing your debts each month on actually clearing the amounts as opposed to paying off interest.