Published in Debt Advice Features on Friday, November 19 2004

It’s easy to let your debt problem cause you emotional and physical stress, but if you follow our short guide to keeping your debt problem in perspective, this needn’t be the case.

Here are our 6 steps to being debt free:

1. Don’t Worry!

Your debt problem can be resolved, to the satisfaction of both you and the people you owe money to, even if your current monthly payments are far higher than you can afford. You should try hard not to let it upset you or cause you undue stress, there is a way forward!

2. Admit to yourself that you have a debt problem

Admit to yourself that you’ve got a debt problem, and commit yourself to solving it. Just being here and finding out about debt solutions shows that you are worried about your debt. If your monthly payments aren’t leaving with you enough money to spend each month, take action now.

3. Get organised!

Keep organised. Sometimes just being organised and keeping all your financial documents in one place will help you to feel more in control. Don’t leave statements lying around as this will only serve to constantly remind you of your situation. Instead, plan some time to tackle the problem.

4. Budget

Prepare a short budget. Work out what your monthly outgoings are (before making your credit payments), allowing yourself comfortable living expenses, and deduct this from your monthly income. This will tell you what you can comfortably afford to pay towards clearing your debt each month.

5. Get in touch with a debt advice organisation

Make contact with a debt advice organisation. They’ll be able to talk you through all of your options and give more helpful advice. The call is free, and there will of course be no obligation to take the advice.

6. Forget about debt

Forget about debt! There are many solutions designed to take the hassle of debt away from you and find a real route to getting you out of the red.