If you are in a lot of debt, then there are two solutions to help you get back on your feet and these are bankruptcy or an IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement).

Bankruptcy is a decision that should not be taken lightly though as there are certain consequences when you declare yourself bankrupt. You will need to be prepared to lose certain valuable personal possessions in order to help pay off the debt. You will have to go to court and your money problems will become public knowledge and this can often be stressful time.

As well as losing material items, you also lose the right to be the director of a company, a member of parliament, a member of local authority or a lawyer.These factors need to be taken into consideration, especially if you dream of one day owning your own business.

If you become bankrupt then you will find it difficult to obtain credit in the future. Your credit history will stay with you for many years and simple things that you will have taken for granted in the past such as taking out a mobile phone contract agreement may prove impossible.

An IVA is a formal agreement with your creditors where you make reduced monthly payments and generally after five years, the rest of the debt is cancelled. This is a way of paying off up to 65% of your debt at a sensible rate and you will not have any privileges or possessions taken away from you. It is a private arrangement so no one but yourself and the people that you owe money to need to know about the IVA if you wish to keep it that way.

Bankruptcy is a quicker way out of debt, but you should only choose this option once you have thoroughly weighed up all the pros and cons as you cannot reverse it. An IVA will take longer to get yourself out of debt, but you have more control and it is kept private.

These days most people have some level of debt and usually manage to make regular payments, with few problems arising from it. It’s how we manage our finances and providing we borrow responsibly, a small level of debt can be built into most people’s budget. A personal loan can help when unexpected expenses – such as emergency car repair or breakdown of a kitchen appliance – arise. We can easily repay these, usually by setting up a direct debit or standard order directly from our current account.

Gone are the days when people saved up for a holiday, car or even a new TV set. We prefer to calculate the monthly payments and buy the product straight away. Sometimes we spot a fantastic never-to-be-repeated bargain. This is fine as long as we can reasonably afford the item and don’t become too greedy when we see other expensive items which we want.

However, when problems arise, such as redundancy, illness, or breaking up with a partner, the level of debt on credit cards or loans can appear quite alarming. In these circumstances it’s important to keep on top of finances and contact your creditor straight away, informing them about what is happening. If kept informed most financial firms will do their best to help by either reducing payments temporarily, or allowing you to take a payment holiday.

Sometimes relatives will happily help out with family debt. Lending from parents, for example, can be a great idea as they are usually quite flexible about repayments. They rarely charge interest and are often quite easy about when the debt needs to be repaid. It’s best though not to take advantage of their good nature and attempt to make regular repayments

Check your bank and credit card statements regularly and ensure all transactions are correct. Don’t just push statements in a drawer unopened, being too scared to look at the balance. The most important thing is to keep on top of how much money you owe along with the current interest rate of your loan(s).

If your credit rating is good you may be in a position to transfer existing debts to a new credit card with 0% interest rate. This is a good idea if you will be able to repay the loan within the specified period (6 or 9 months usually), and are responsible enough not to spend on the card. Otherwise the interest rate on this type of card can become alarmingly high.

If you find yourself regularly unable to meet existing loan payments, it’s best not to panic. Consult the Citizens’ Advice Bureau which has debt counsellors who will help you to sort out your existing commitments, and advise accordingly. They will even negotiate with your creditors and try to work out repayment plans suitable to both parties.

However, as long as we behave responsibly, a sensible level of debt can be built into most budgets. Most families would find it difficult to live without the occasional loan, especially now as Christmas is almost here.

I was personally in a lot of financial trouble very recently and in urgent need of debt help. After finally admitting to myself that I was almost on the verge of bankruptcy, I posted a bulletin on a well known money saving site where experts and people just like me assisted me to get back on the straight and narrow.

I found out quickly that there were no miracle solutions and that it would take time, patience and a long slog to get back on track.  Lump sums off my arrears were not an option and I found that even earning a few extra pounds here and there would soon add up to something worthwhile.

At the start, I had a large credit card bill, a car loan, an excessive mortgage and all the regular household bills that you would expect.

I started by making a really good budget planner and detailed on it every last penny that I was paying out. Then, by working my way through the list I painstaking shopped around for the best deals that I could find until I had reduced nearly all my outgoings.  Making savings of £1, £2 or even £5 a month doesn’t seem like much, but when you look at that on an annual basis it quickly accumulates to something worthwhile.

Once I had my monthly outgoings to a point that I had cut them down to the bare liveable amounts, I started to look at ways that I could earn a little extra.

Then along came the wonderful world of eBay, I started selling off my old junk and after paying postage and their fees I was finding that again I was only just breaking a profit and no more. It went on like this for nearly a month until I had saved up enough in my PayPal account to buy a job lot of items that I then sold individually.

In addition, I was car booting the bigger items that I had cleared out my home, every penny was one little step closer.

I became terribly mean for a short time and I was saving up my ones and twos in a jar, walking with my head to the pavement for extra coppers and even raiding the back of the sofa every month.

Before I knew it, I was soon making overpayments to my loans and my credit cards which I had transferred onto 0% finance options.

I found some additional income ideas from the forum that saved me from bankruptcy and I was prepared to give pretty much anything a go. It’s all about having a can do attitude and a burning desire to succeed.

Two years later, I am debt free apart from my mortgage and it’s all down to looking after the pennies and letting the pounds look after themselves. It really is the best feeling in the world.

Teaching children the basic precepts of financial responsibility at a young age can serve them well in later life. Unfortunately most school programmes are geared towards academic skills and consequently life skills such as money management may be neglected. Consequently it usually falls on parents to teach these skills.

First and foremost kids tend to learn by observation and imitation. Its not enough to say do I as I do not as I say, ideally what parents do and what they say should be consistent otherwise children will not learn the correct behaviour, so if you are constantly preaching about the importance of living within your means but behave in a spendthrift fashion you are obviously sending a confusing message to your children.

Simple things like making children do chores for their pocket money rather than just handing them their allowance can inculcate a better appreciation of the value of money. Discussing basic financial matters with your children and the importance of saving regularly can help them develop beneficial habits that will last a lifetime. If there is an item that they particularly want you can develop a savings plan with them so that they set aside a portion of their allowance each week until they have reached their target. Giving in immediately to a crying child in the supermarket or toy store may bring respite in the short term but this type of instant gratification is not good for the childs long term development.

Most of the suggestions above are just common sense however implementing them consistently is not an easy job but if you can manage it you can look forward to a stress free retirement courtesy of your wealthy offspring!

I think kids should get told to manage their money as money is an important part in people lives as they use it for anything they need. It would be better for people to stay out of debt and have a comfy life rather than get into debt and be paying them off for a majority of your life.

It would be a good idea to have some sort of lesson when kids get taught about how to handle their money and how to budget for when they have their own houses and flats. you should tell them about situations where others have been in debt and where things have gone wrong which would make them think they don’t want that happening to them.

It would be helpful if kids new more about debt also, because i didn’t really know about managing my money which gets me not having any til i next get paid. so it would be a good idea for kids to learn more before they have to do this kinda stuff to.

Debt is a very serious issue. It has taken centre stage in the news now for a couple of years now. One reason is that more and more people are getting into serious financial difficulties.

Many people hide the truth from their partners and families, thinking they can get out of the situation. Some become ill and this in turn leads them to shove it under the rug and hope it goes away. It doesn’t and it doesn’t do any good, most likely, only make matters worse.

I haven’t lied about it. But I didn’t say the problems I have had. I waited a long time before talking it over with my girlfriend. I think this is a case for most people.

It really does help to talk, just to get things off your chest and as the saying goes, “a problem shared is a problem halved”. Talking can help with stress and give you ideas. And there are places out there that can help.

So, don’t clam up. If you are in trouble, look around, there is always someone out there who can help you.

When debt comes in the door love flies out the window. Or maybe the other homily of:_ money isn’t everything - usually said by those who have plenty or enough to cover their bills and debt will never happen to them - or they think it won’t, although they are probably on the first slippery slope allready!.

Fear is the usual reason to lie to a partner, what will they do, what will they say. If you do not like confrontation then do not get into debt or deception will be used to avoid it - at any cost.

Its the age we live in - credit cards, loans. Right now it has been realised what problems its all causing and the banks and loan companies are pulling back, in fact they are now in trouble and trying to borrow to keep themselves afloat, which in itself is causing huge problems for ordinary people with mortgages - the circle of debt!

In today’s society debt is on the increase. If you have reached a point where you are struggling to make your money stretch and are having to miss some monthly loan or credit repayments just to stay afloat, then it is vital you seek out someone who can help you.

If you choose to ignore your current problems then your debt WILL begin to spiral out of control; as the logic follows that if you are skipping repayments now then you will continue to do so and your problem will only get worse.

Depending on the size of your debts, you may want to speak to your friends or family members first to see if they can help you. Other alternatives are to speak to a representative at your local Citizens Advice Bureau who will be able to point you in the direction of the best place to seek advice for your debt. Alternatively, there are many debt advice companies that offer free advice and will assist you in negotiating new repayment terms with your creditors.

Essentially, the bottom line is that if you are struggling to meet your repayments now, then you will continue to struggle to meet your future monthly repayments. Before your debts get out of hand it is vital to seek professional advice to stop your debts getting out of control.

Mounting debt is a huge worry and it can soon spiral out of control if you are not careful. The odd missed payment could soon turn into one of many; there may not be enough money going into the bank account each month to cover debts like loans, credit cards and worse: the mortgage either. When you are getting more sleepless nights than peaceful ones, you know that it’s time to sort those finances out and it can be tempting to seek help from one of the many advice websites on the Internet.

Be warned, however, many of these companies might promise that they can get your debts written off for you, but they do actually charge for their services and you may find yourself taking them on as simply another creditor, which you can do without.

The Citizen’s Advice Bureau, however, offers free debt advice.

For small debt problems, teach yourself to budget and whittle down that debt by yourself. For the more serious debt problems, go to the Citizen’s Advice Bureau and let them help you help yourself for no cost at all.

Rule one and the most important rule of all with growing debts is confront them, concede that you need to do something about them and wherever possible stop them from growing any bigger. Keep together all the letters and statements you receive from your creditors and get together a list of all those to whom you owe money and how much.

From this point you can prioritise those which need to be paid. These are the most essential; your mortgage or rent, fuel costs, any outstanding court fines or money to a partner for child maintenance. Keep up with these payments to prevent your debts damaging your life, to prevent you losing your home or having fuel cut off.

Non-priority debts are all the others; credit cards, overdrafts, student loans and benefit overpayments. You then need to sort out your budget, any money left after essential expenditures (essential are only those things that are necessary to live - rent or mortgage, food bills, household costs etc.) After this you will know how much you have left to pay off your priority debts, if it isn’t enough show it to your creditors, attempt to come to an agreement. If you have more than you need, arrange to pay more off each month until these priority debts are cleared. Your non-priority debts can be dealt with in much the same way, if you have money to spare you can begin to pay these off simultaneously with your priority debts. You can apply for an administration order or for an IVA.

If you have no money left after considering your budget there are very few options, either applying for bankruptcy or asking your creditors to write off the debt. Whatever you do, debts will not go away they will merely get worse, the most important step is confronting them and starting to work towards a solution and a debt free life.