Debt Reduction Can Be Easier Than You Think

By Author: Alisdair Cosgrove
Total Articles: 184
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Getting into debt used to be a pretty easy proposition. With endless credit card offers falling through the door every day. Newspapers are full of adverts for cheap car loans, and then there are always those department store offers to buy a flat screen TV in 24 easy monthly payments.

It's no wonder that hundreds of thousands of British people are now having some trouble controlling their debt problems. Below are some basic ideas of how to control your debt situation and get it back on track. The first thing seriously to consider is changing the way you spend money, your spending habits are probably your worst enemy.

For example, do you often buy on impulse? Or do you carefully consider each of your purchases? Do you just decide you need something, and just go out and buy it with your credit card or in-store credit? These are the type of things that lead you down the road to serious credit problems. This is the first thing you need to change; you need to carefully consider each purchase.

If you decide that, you genuinely need an item. Then think about saving for it, if some reason you don't want to ...
... wait. Then consider the cheapest option for financing. Don't just make a grab for the store card. Connected to changing your spending habits are simply stopping increasing the amount of debt you have. Why not just stop spending money, many items such as food and petrol should be considered as essentials. However, can the same be said of an expensive meal, or adding to your DVD movie collection?

You should really consider taking a serious spending holiday. Cutting back to only purchasing essential items is a fantastic way to curb your spending habits and start treating the amount of debt you have. It really is that simple, stop spending money. Just think how many items you purchase over the course of a year that never actually get used, that sit in the back of a cupboard. Or clothes that are in the in the wardrobe, and never actually see the light of day.

Do you really need to buy these things, or could you have saved all that?

Another holiday idea is to give your credit cards a well-deserved break. Even if you send them away for a two-week or four-week break this could help not only the actual debt you are incurring. In addition, it may help to break the credit card spending habit. It is a bad idea to cancel your credit cards, but it's a pretty good idea to cut them up or hide them away where you don't think about them.

If you going to keep your cards you want to consider using credit card balance transfers to cards that offer lower interest rates or even no interest for a set period. Try to get new cards for each of the cards you already own. However, if you do that you must destroy the old cards and you must not use the new ones for purchases. The reason you mustn't use the new one for purchasers, is that any money you pay off those cards comes off the balance transfer amount first. Therefore, if you make a purchase, you will be playing interest on those purchases.

Try to think of frugally about things that you use every day. Saving money on small items can add up to huge savings over the course of the year. Just imagine how much money you spend on kitchen towels every year. Use cloths and wash them afterwards, you'll be surprised how much money you can save you take simple steps like this to save pennies that soon turn into pounds.

You should stop trying to impress other people, with the things you have purchased. If your friends are unimpressed by you if you don't have a new designer outfit, what kind of friend's car they? Changing your friends is kind of too big a deal for almost anyone. It is fair to consider, however, if you have surrounded yourself with people who spend, spend, spend. Are you just in the habit of spending money, because all your friends do?