How to reduce debt
Do you need to reduce your debts, and add a few extra pounds to your bank balance in these hard times?

Everything from petrol, to groceries have shot up in price, and a large majority of the British public are experiencing financial pain at the moment. What can you do to help yourself?


Well, the first thing you should be doing, is making sure you know exactly what your outgoings are, compared to your income. If you are surviving, without going into debt, then consider this a bonus, because very many people are sliding into debt without any help.

Once you know your financial position, you can then start to make plans to increase your finances, and get onto a firmer footing.

Just KNOWING where your finances are at, is the starting point you need to gain. otherwise, no matter what you do to help yourself, you will not know if you are ever better off, and where best to place your attention.

The first thing many struggling people will do, or should do, is itemise what they are spending, and then make a list of the expenses they really do not need. For example, the chances are, that you will have certain subscriptions that are not even benefitting you, or you simply don’t use anymore.

Once you have found out these details; removed what you do not need anymore, then you will find out exactly how much money you need just to live.

  • Rent.
  • Food
  • Gas/Electric
  • Council Tax
  • Water Bills
  • Phone bill (Not mobiles, that IS a luxury!)
  • Etc., Etc.

You should then have a monthly figure, of how much money you REALLY need. Forget mobile phone costs, sky TV, and other similar items, because THEY ARE LUXURIES, and if you are serious about getting out of debt, then you need to wake up, and smell the coffee. Get serious, or your situation will probably spiral out of control.

There is no worse feeling, than being in debt. The feeling that you debts are just mounting up, and there is nothing you can do about it.

There IS something you can do about it, but you first need to be honest with yourself, and strip back to the basics of what you need. It is almost like starting again. “This is what I need to exist”. The rest being false economy, at least for now.

Once you know how much money you need to survive on, then you will feel a lot better about things, and can then start making plans to increase your income, and then start to work on a  few of those luxuries that you have started taking for granted.

Plan for today: Make your list, and find out your exact financial position. You will feel better for it.

Remember, that if you can reduce your outgoings by removing payments you do not need, then this is almost exactly the same as increasing your income.

In another blog, we will work on what to do next, and how to actually increase your income.