Christmas Countdown Begins…
December is finally upon us with 24 shopping days left until Christmas Day. As the festive season fast approaches many households may be feeling the pinch, with finances becoming more and more strained.
.
The season of giving doesn’t have to cause stress and anxiety. Here is our list of ways to save a little this Christmas.
.
- Make a list: the best way to make sure you spend your money wisely is by making a list, boring we know but it does make a difference. Not just who you are buying for but what you are buying and how much you want to spend, then mark off each gift as and when you buy it to keep track of your spending.
- Shop around: with the internet there should be no excuse for not shopping around for the best deal this year. Sites such as mySupermarket allow you to compare your Christmas food shop, which can only be a good thing with families spending an estimated £170 on Christmas dinner alone. Then sites such as Money Supermarket ,can help you get the best deal for all other items.
- Cash in reward card points: what better time to cash in your hard earned reward points than at Christmas? If you collect Tesco Clubcard points or Sainsbury’s Nectar card points, for example, you can get money off your food shop; if you have a Boots advantage card then you can use this towards some of your gifts. They all go towards keeping the cost of Christmas down.
- Voucher code websites: websites that offer money off vouchers or discounts of any kind can really help your Christmas budget. Sites such as Money Saving Expert, Money and Voucher Codes can offer some brilliant savings. However, beware of the trap and only search for vouchers for gifts that you know you want and don’t be tempted to get things just because of the saving. You could find yourself buying more gifts or spending unnecessary money.
What are your top tips for saving this festive season?
Filed Under Budgeting | Trackback | Leave a Comment
Is Bankruptcy the easy way out?
On many occasions I have encountered people who say that bankruptcy is the “easy way out” of debt.
Some people think that bankruptcy wipes off 100% of debt, and you can be completely debt free within 12 months. Unfortunately this isn’t always the case and, therefore, bankruptcy should never be viewed as the easy way out.
Bankruptcy is a form of insolvency and is one of the many options available to people who are in financial difficulty. Contrary to the belief of some bankruptcy is a complex, and sometimes difficult, solution to your financial problems.
A bankruptcy petition currently costs £525 with a further £175 in costs towards the court fee. Once a bankruptcy petition is filed an Official Receiver is assigned who will go through a person’s finances, assets and debts. If there are valuable assets such as a house, motorhome, jewellery or a car then they will look at selling them in order to pass the funds to the creditors.
As well as assessing assets, the Official Receiver will look at income and expenditure; if a person has a surplus left once they have accounted for all of their monthly outgoings then they could be requested to pay what is called an Income Payments Order (IPO).
An IPO is where a person pays any surplus income towards their bankruptcy for a set period of time, usually three years.
In addition, Bankruptcy will normally remain on a person’s credit file for six years from the date they were made bankrupt.
If you are looking into bankruptcy you may be able to get help with the fees, click here to for more information.
Filed Under debt advice, debt help | Trackback | Leave a Comment
Selling your home to repay for debts?
For some people in debt selling their home is an option to raise the funds to pay off their creditors. If you are a home owner with equity in your property this could be an option for you.
.
If this is a route you think would be suitable for you read our top tips for what to do:.
- Get together all of your creditor balances and confirm how much you owe to each of them.
- Contact your mortgage lender and get up-to-date balances on your outstanding amount. Then you are in a position to instruct a surveyor to determine the value of your home. From this you can see how much equity you have.
- Do not forget to calculate the fees that are involved in selling a house.
- If, once your house has sold, you have enough funds to clear your debts in full you can arrange payments with them.
- If your funds do not cover all of the debt then you can contact Payplan and we can look into offering your creditors a reduced settlement or a Full and Final IVA.
- Remember to calculate the costs of moving into your new accommodation. If you are moving to a rented property you will need to have funds available to offer as a deposit.
Selling your home in order to repay your debts will prevent creditors from forcing the sale of the property or them going down the bankruptcy route , however you should always consider all options before making any major decisions like this and seek appropriate advice.
Filed Under debt advice, debt help, mortgages | Trackback | Leave a Comment
Why do I need help with my debts?
I recently came across a thread on a forum where a debtor asked “what can I do about my debt?” The reply from a debt advisor suggested that they call a free debt advice agency such as Payplan to get free and impartial advice. To which a reply for another forum user suggested they set up a plan with their creditors without the help of anyone else.
This got me thinking: it is always an option for a debtor to arrange their own plan with their creditors but people still choose to enlist the help from people like us at Payplan. My question is, why? Some debt management companies, like Payplan, are free however there are some out there that charge a fee for the service that they provide.
In order to answer my question, I decided to ask our followers on Facebook and Twitter…
Nick said, “It would have been a big job to write to all my creditors. Payplan certainly helped. But what a relief it was to get some help! You can only battle on so much before the stress gets to you.”
Adam said “It certainly lifted the weight from my shoulders about worrying when my next red bill was coming through the door, and the stress of paying different companies. Now I have only one outgoing payment and I’m so much happier.”
Nicki said “It kept the wolves from the door. My stress levels were losing me sleep and stopping me enjoying life. Now I am happy because Payplan is in control.”
Craig said “[I] was drowning in debt with no end in sight. So nice to have someone fight your corner.”
People understand that they can if they choose to arrange a plan directly with their creditors, however it seems people like to have the support that is given to them through people like us at Payplan.
What are your views? We would love to hear from you.
Filed Under debt advice, debt help | Trackback | 1 Comment
