Budgets? Who needs them?

Filed Under Press Releases | Leave a Comment

Well, in fairness to the Chancellor, with the way things are going at the moment, we could all do with a touch of economic prudence on the expenditure front. We’re top of the European personal debt league- a title the UK seems to be hell-bent on retaining.

But the demand for even higher levels of credit seem to continue, unabated, although high street retail spending is apparently experiencing a bit of a slow-down.

With low interest rates and house values still on the rise, there’s an increasing preoccupation with equity - cashing it in that is. With older people living longer, there is a move towards looking upon their home, not as the children’s inheritance, but fun- money to be enjoyed while they are still active, carefree spenders with the considerable spending power provided by released equity plus their occupational pensions.

So the ‘live for the moment’ ethos is no longer strictly the domain of the young and feckless but a territorial gain with new found financial freedom for the ‘grey panthers’ and ’silver surfers’.

But as always, with freedom comes responsibility, which particularly applies to debt and the need to operate within the boundaries of your ability to meet regular repayment costs.

One of the fundamentals of debt avoidance is to set monthly budget - and stick to it. But if for what you consider to be very good reasons, you decide to use credit, which means you spend more than you can earn, then you will almost certainly find the following advice useful.

Obvious, I know, but credit increases your total debt, so look at the sum of all your monthly bills including council tax, gas, electricity, water, telephone, internet, Sky subs, mortgage insurances, TV licence and so on. You must also budget for food, travel and entertainment.

Credit costs - your monthly payments will increase

First, do the sums and only commit to what you can afford. If two weeks before payday there’s little or no money left, then credit is not the answer and you must cut costs.

Credit only makes things affordable if you are 100% certain you can always meet the extra monthly repayments plus your entire existing monthly budget.

Explore other ways of increasing income by looking at benefits and allowances. Are you getting all your full entitlements? You may need a check on housing benefit or council tax.

Can you afford credit?

Credit always comes at a price. Not only will the interest rates vary but also ’secured’ loans mean you may lose the property or vehicle if you default. Credit and store cards are generally unsecured and rarely put your home at risk.

Their may come a point where you don’t actually know what to do for the best and whether or not you actually need to take on what could prove to be too much of a financial burden.

So you need reliable impartial advice, and you probably need it quickly, particularly if you feel your finances are in danger of spiralling out of control.

A freephone call on 0800 917 7823 will connect you to Payplan - one of the UKs largest free debt help providers.

With over 15 years experience of providing debt advice and solutions, Payplan currently help over 60,000 people every year. We provide fast, impartial debt advice, regardless of the amount you owe, providing clients with a service that is both confidential and free.

Many of our enquirers resolve their difficulties during their first phone call to us. Budgeting and income maximisation advice may give you all the breathing space you need to get your finances under control.

Alternatively, if you are already struggling with your finances or if you find budgeting difficult, Payplan will help you explore all your options and find you a route to financial freedom that’s right for you and your particular circumstances.

So whatever your situation, impartial, free advice is just a call away. Call 0800 917 7823 today and take your first steps to financial freedom, free.

In Debt? No Worries

Filed Under UK Debt News | Leave a Comment

I came across an article today on the Sky News website. The article was headlined “In Debt? No Worries”

The article reported that 70% of people who owed more than ‘£10k in debt’, were not concerned about their financial situation.

I found this figure quite disturbing, as I did not feel this was a true representation of the nations attitude towards debt.

Due to this article, I started a poll on a Debt Forum and asked the question “Are You Worried About Debt?”. At the time of writing this article, the poll currently suggests that 85% of those who voted ARE infact bothered about their finances.

So which figure is a true representation of people’s attitudes towards debt? Well, actually, neither of them. Why? Because a person on the street who can manage their debt will not be worried about their financial position, however, ask a person who is in debt for whatever reason who is unable to manage their repayments, will worry about their finances.

So why the need for this article? Well, for a headline that reads “In Debt? No Worries” followed by the first sentence:

Brits are a nation of borrowers who do not care how much they owe

It is not only misleading, but also a great misrepresentation of our nations attitude toward their debt.

With the current focus on UK debt such as “Britons One Trillion Debt Mountain” and the call for our government to crack down on debt, surely this would mean that creditors and their lending procedures would come under the microscope?

However, wildly accessible articles such as the one mentioned here, could be interpreted to think that consumers are not helping themselves because they couldn’t care less how much debt they owe? This would therefore, take the responsibility off the creditor and their lending procedures.

It is in the interest of fairness that this article is written to show that infact; to suggest that 70% of Brits who owe more than £10k couldn’t care less is possibly not a true representation of our nations attitude towards debt.

Wouldn’t you agree?

Cut Your Credit Card Debt

Filed Under Money Saving Tips | Leave a Comment

The Independant has published an article on “The Easy Way To Slash Your Card Debt”

It is reported that 3.4million cardholders in the UK pay the minimum amount required on their credit cards each month. This could be either 2% of the outstanding balance or a minimum of Â£5.

However, based on a card balance of Â£3k with 15.1% APR, paying an extra Â£1 per week could infact slash Â£1,200 from your overall repayments and cut back the time to repay by 13 years!

If cardholders in the UK, who currently make minimum payments on thier cards, paid an extra Â£4 per month, this could save a massive Â£4.3bn!

Useful links:

Money Saving Tips
Income Maximisation

Filed Under UK Debt News | Leave a Comment

Payplan have a bi-monthly newsletter that is emailed to anyone who subscribes. It informs subscribers of new developments at Payplan along with useful information, interesting news articles and money saving advice

If you wish to subscribe to Payplans newsletter please email us, with your email address and we will email the newsletters directly to you.Â

List of Newsletters