There are a huge number of reasons why people get into serious debt. The classic reason is the temptation to overspend on credit cards which are offered by some credit card companies as though they were confetti. Perhaps over recent times the same companies having had to write off substantial sums in bad debts are somewhat more cautious than they used to be, they are still relatively easy to get hold of.

Another temptation is personal loans. How many times have you received a letter from a financial organisation saying that all you have to do is to sign and return the enclosed form and a cheque for £7,000 or £10,000 that has already been approved will be sent to you by return? If you happen to be a little short of cash at the time or you have been eying that special purchase then it is all too easy to be tempted.

Most of us enjoy buying things, but once we get to enjoy it so much that we buy more than we can afford to buy and our debts just get bigger every month, then we should start to question whether we are addicted.

Just as with any addiction, the first step to debt addiction recovery is to face up to the truth of your situation and make the decision to do something about it. You will need to talk to other people about your situation in order to find ways to manage your current debt problem. You will need debt management help and there are a number of professional companies who can provide it. Debt management specialists understand debt addiction and the people who suffer from it; you should talk to them.

Re-mortgaging is another route that one could take to free up finances. Re-mortgaging essentially means using the value of your home to pay off your debts, and this could cut your monthly costs, and, in some case, the interest rate you’re paying as well. However, individuals should always think carefully before securing other debts against their home. So, why not speak to a expert advisor at Gregory Pennington and discuss your current circumstances. The centre’s dedicated team will give you some initial advice, that is completely free, and then you can choose whether you take up any of the routes that they recommend. Fees are then payable for any continuing services. The financial experts that work for the Gregory Pennington are experienced professional individuals and they’ve already helped tens of thousands of people become debt free. So why not let them do the hard work and deal with creditors for you? Debts and debt management doesn’t have to be complicated.

When it comes to missing payments, be it on a credit card, store card or loan, there are two major penalties. The first is the infamous late payment charge. Lots of people miss payments and end up paying significant charges and fees because of this which only leads to more and more debt. The second penalty and what I consider to be the most serious, is the mark on your overall credit report. If you miss a payment for a single month, it’s noted, but it’s not that serious. But, if you start missing payments on an on going basis, then your credit report and overall credit rating will suffer.

The best thing to do to avoid late payments is to make sure that all of your month to month outgoings are setup to use Direct Debit or a similar service. This way, the payment is always made automatically. Of course, you still need to have the funds in your bank account to cover the payments. If you don’t, you’ll end up incurring overdrawn fees from the bank itself - which can often be more than your credit card charges! If you’re in this situation, you need to consider debt management.

The first step is to work out what debts you have currently. This means all debts, not just one big significant chunk of debt such as a large loan or mortgage. It’s often smaller debts that are forgotten about that end up costing the most money in the long run. I know personally I’ve had a few hundred pounds on one of my credit cards that I’ve been paying interest on for the best part of 3 years. Once you have noted down all of your current debt, you then need to work out how much you’re paying back on each credit card, loan or mortgage each month. Lots of people do not even know this and is often the main cause of debt issues. Once you have the figures collected, you’ll either be shocked or extremely pleased. Either way, that’s good news. If you see that you’re paying back more than you bring in or at least more than you can afford to pay - and realise that, then you’re one step closer to getting debt free. If you’re in this situation, you must look towards debt consolidation. You need to consolidate all or at least the majority of the above payments into one single payment that you can meet month to month without fail. If you do that, you’ll be able to get yourself debt free relatively quickly.

More often that not, people have debt from multiple sources such as mortgages, credit cards and loans from the bank. Some people have debt, even insignificant amounts from 10+ years ago on credit cards that they just pay the minimum amount on each month which is literally just the interest. Time and time again, I’ve heard stories of people taking out credit card after credit card, maxing them out and just meeting the low month to month payments on them. The end result is a huge amount of monthly outgoings that is doing absolutely nothing to clear the debt itself, only service the interest. The only thing to do in this situation is consolidate. If you have lots of debt across lots of credit cards, you can take out a consolidation loan to pay off all of the cards in full and simply pay back the loan at a rate you can afford over the next 3, 5 or even 10 years. I mean sure, the length of time will be quite significant if you have lots of debts, but at least the money you pay each month will not be going towards just the interest. It’s better to pay back money each month over 10 years and after that time be 100% debt free than to pay back money each month for the next 50 years and not make a dent in the debt itself.

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.

The first mistake people make is using their credit cards when they don’t need to. I know several people who will avoid drawing cash and put everything on their credit cards. This is fine if you’re then going to pay back the amount on the card straight away, but if you don’t, it just ends up stacking up and 6 months down the line, it becomes a significant debt. £50 for fuel once a week that is put on your credit card leads to a significant debt within a year! Of course, it’s not just small purchases such as fuel that cause debt issues. Lots of people will purchase something on their credit cards with the full intention of paying it back the following week or month, but never do. The thing is with credit cards, nobody is going to hassle you into paying back the funds for the purchase you’ve just made which is why people will just let the funds mount up and mount up until it becomes more uncontrollable.

The first step and often the most overlooked stepped is to sit down and work out exactly what you can afford. This might sound obvious, but often people stack up and stack up debt from personal loans to credit cards to mortgages and if you asked them outright, how much debt they have or more to the point, how much they’re paying back each month, they couldn’t give you a straight answer. The key to good debt management is to first work out, in total, how much is the minimum payment on ALL of your debts each month. You then need to work out how much, from your income, you can afford to pay towards the debts. At this stage, most people realise that they are indeed paying out more each month than they bring in - this is where the problems start.

If you get yourself in the above situation, the key to getting the situation resolved is debt consolidation. By consolidating all of the above payments into one single payment, you can structure it in a way that you can afford to make payments, even if it’s over a longer term and avoid more debt on an on going basis. Of course, should you work out your finances and realise that you have funds spare each month after making your minimum payments, you can then start to pay more off your loans and credit cards than you were doing previously and effectively get debt free a lot quicker.