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Now It’s Time To Take Control

Firstly gather up your monthly outgoings and work out the total amount, call this ‘expenditure’

Next work out your total income rather obviously call this ‘income’

Now comes the first tricky bit, is ‘income’ bigger than ‘expenditure’ if not you need to take action straight away.

Go through all your monthly out goings and see if you can reduce any of them, unfortunately little luxuries will have to be the first to go. Try to think of cheaper ways to eat and reduce your transport costs. You may have to consider reducing your broadband and TV package.

Of course you could also just increase your income by getting a better job, but this may prove easier said than done.

Now assess your debts and credit card bills. Check the interest on these, and always try to remove the highest interest debt first.

Do your research, it may be possible to switch some credit card debt to a cheaper provider, use websites such as ‘moneysavingexpert’ to research the best deals. It is very important to understand your monthly charges for credit. Sometimes in addition to the interest charged, you may be charged a late payment fee. These can soon stack up compounding you interest charges.

Your goal is to increase the gap between you income and outgoings  to a level where you can pay a bit more than the interest on your loans.

Take control of your finances and your life, remember those utility bills that were red and angry looking, get in touch with your utility provider and ask for help with saving energy. They may be able to offer you a reduced payment plan.