If you have gotten yourself into debts you can't manage, seeking outside help is often the only way to go. There are plenty of organisations out there that can give free debt advice, including ones run by the government such as Citizens Advice. However, there is some information you can have ready before you speak to someone which will help you get the most out of the help on offer.
Before you do anything else you have to work out exactly how much you owe. Going through all your debts and coming up with a concrete amount is absolutely necessary before you take any other steps, as you may owe more than you think. You should then note down who your lenders are for each debt and what kind of debts they are- is it a credit card or a utility bill for example? Once you have done this you should prioritise them all. The ones with serious consequences for non-payment, like Council Tax for example, must go at the top, and less serious ones like loans from friends come at the bottom. This is not to say they're not all important to pay back, you just have to see which ones you should be trying to get under control first.
Get all the information you can about each of your debts together too. What is the interest rate? What's the minimum repayment each month? How long is the term of the loan? Answering all of these questions will help an advisor out immensely in working out a plan that's appropriate for you.
If you aren't keeping up with your repayments each month, you also need to work out how much they are going over budget by. Work out a spending plan, with how much you are paying out now and how much you can actually afford. This will help the advisor see a concrete figure for how much your repayments need to be lowered. Calculating your spending will also show you areas where you could cut back, which will help you in repaying your debts.
Taking a little while to work all this information out will stop you wasting time when you actually go to get advice. You want to make sure you get the best advice you can in the time available, and working out the details first yourself is the easiest way to do this.
Before you do anything else you have to work out exactly how much you owe. Going through all your debts and coming up with a concrete amount is absolutely necessary before you take any other steps, as you may owe more than you think. You should then note down who your lenders are for each debt and what kind of debts they are- is it a credit card or a utility bill for example? Once you have done this you should prioritise them all. The ones with serious consequences for non-payment, like Council Tax for example, must go at the top, and less serious ones like loans from friends come at the bottom. This is not to say they're not all important to pay back, you just have to see which ones you should be trying to get under control first.
Get all the information you can about each of your debts together too. What is the interest rate? What's the minimum repayment each month? How long is the term of the loan? Answering all of these questions will help an advisor out immensely in working out a plan that's appropriate for you.
If you aren't keeping up with your repayments each month, you also need to work out how much they are going over budget by. Work out a spending plan, with how much you are paying out now and how much you can actually afford. This will help the advisor see a concrete figure for how much your repayments need to be lowered. Calculating your spending will also show you areas where you could cut back, which will help you in repaying your debts.
Taking a little while to work all this information out will stop you wasting time when you actually go to get advice. You want to make sure you get the best advice you can in the time available, and working out the details first yourself is the easiest way to do this.
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