Deal with your debt quickly.
House prices falling, fuel costs rising and wages falling behind the cost of living means that we will start to see the burden on our credit cards increase.
The heavier the debt burden the greater the personal strain that we experience and the harder it becomes to work smarter, earn faster and pay off the debt. A simple and cruel painful cycle.
Rather than bury your head in the sand seek professional advice quickly and ensure that you start with the people who are qualified by experience and training to help you. These might be your local Citizens Advice Bureau, a specialist Debt Counselling agency, or a solicitor trained to ensure that creditors are stopped in their ever heavier approaches to debt collection.
Consider a Personal Voluntary Arrangement (or PVA) whereby your debts are recorded at a moment in time, the creditors (the people you owe the money to) are contacted, and the interest immediately frozen while you enter an arrangement to repay a portion of what is owed.
Foolish pride and ego will often stop us from recognising the severity of the debt burden until it is too late. Instead of avoiding the bills when they become insurmountable, pick up the phone and book the appointment with CAB, or get in touch with the debt specialist advisory teams. (If you are not sure where to start then do email me for more details of where you can go).
Put a stop to the credit lifestyle and reign back your spending where possible, while ensuring that the right framework of action is put in place to protect you. Do it today.
Nick Sturgeon is a small business owner who has benefitted from the experiences of success, failure and financial recovery. The author of “Small Business BIG Profit” published by FT Prentice Hall, Nick writes and speaks from the heart about Risk, Reward and the Power of Personal Enterprise. nick@smallbusinessbigprofit.co.uk
