For many people, when money problems hit they solve it with more credit. Opening up a new credit card or taking out another loan can often seem like a good idea to keep you afloat. Payday loans might be appealing as they offer short term solutions for keeping the wolf from the door, but sadly taking out debt after debt will leave you with a stack of monthly payments that you won’t be able to afford to make. You will end up struggling for money even more in the long run.

Getting out of debt with bad credit can seem scary. You may feel as though you are stuck in the position that you are with unwieldily large payments on your current debt, many of which only cover the interest and don’t reduce the overall sum that you owe. It can be very disheartening not to be able to see a way out of your problem, and knowing that your debt is not going actually to reduce can make you feel trapped.

Getting The Help You Need

There are ways out of the situation that does not involve insolvency. Having the right help and support is essential, so in the first instance, speak with citizens advice or a debt relief charity to see what information you can get from them. 

Consolidating Your Debt

One of the problems with having multiple debts to different lenders is that you will have several payments going out each month, each with their own interest added. Often, this means that a fair chunk of your debt repayments ends up being interest repayments and some of your balances will never actually reduce. You will be locked into paying a similar amount each month for a very long time unless you make a change. 

Consolidation loans may still be available to you, even if your credit rating is not great. There may be the option to secure the loan against your house or car. This will offer lenders the reassurances that they would be able to reclaim their debt in the event of a default. However, if you manage the situation correctly, you will not end up missing payments, and you will clear the debt. 

A consolidation loan takes all of your debts and adds them together. So instead of dealing with several companies, you will just owe money to one. You will find that your overall payments become lower and there will be an end date when all of your debt is cleared. 

Maintaining A Healthy Relationship With Debt

Once you take out this type of loan, you should close all of your credit cards and ensure you do not add to your debt anymore. You may be tempted to take out another loan or to keep your credit cards. However, this may leave you open to creeping back into unmanageable debt. 

Once you are making your regular payments, you could look at other ways of improving your financial health, such as canceling any unused subscriptions or switching insurance or energy suppliers. 

It’s not always rainbows and sunshine in life. When times are tough because you don’t have a steady income, a low income, you’re in-between jobs, you can’t work due to studying requirements etc it can be quite tricky to make ends meet. And with everything seemingly becoming more expensive,it seems increasingly more difficult to balance the tightrope. This could be something you relate to, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. You are experiencing the same as a growing group in society, who struggle to make ends meet and get into a positive cash flow pattern.

Not having enough to spend and living paycheck to paycheck is now the reality for almost 7 in 10 UK workers some research has found. In this newfound reality it’s important that people shift their expectations and do not live beyond what they can afford.

Finance When Needed

There are, however, some expenses that you can’t really afford to be without. Mobility is one of those; buying a car can be crucial to make sure you can take part in regular social interactions, getting your kids to and from school, and to make journeys to get to your job. If you can’t afford the outlay for a car, companies such as Angus MacKinnon will offer you finance options. The key is, even with finance, not to get carried away and stick with something that will get you from A to B safely whilst remaining as affordable as possible so you don’t get behind on repayments.

Go Pre-Loved

For all the other things you might want to consider checking out the many charity shops for second hand items such as clothing and books. It’s fantastic how second hand pieces are kept in good condition, and if you combine smartly, you can still look thoroughly on-trend. Second hand clothes shopping should be nothing to be snobbish about, it’s actually a great way to do your bit against “fast fashion.” This is the practice of many high street fashion retailers to renew their stock 8 to 12 times a year in an effort to increase sales. A side effect of this “fast fashion” is that retailers end up with extreme amounts of excess stock that usually gets dumped and represents a major polluter in the world. Giving a pre-loved item another lease on life will ensure you are doing your part!

Food Prepping

Another thing to save money on is food. The first thing that will need to go is eating out. Even takeaways should be off the menu. You will want to make sure to cook in batches and have a decently sized freezer. Buy what’s on a good offer and get yourself a meal plan to last you for weeks. The best way of saving money on food is to plan and prepare. 

Side Hustle

It’s good to save and be frugal, but you might also want to boost your income in the hours you have spare. An excellent way to get some extra spending money is to offer your services freelance online. It really could be anything; maybe you’re a computer whizz kid, or are a great writer, perhaps you can design logos, or you can video edit. You could even look in to teaching English as a foreign language via Skype. There are so many options out there, go get your side hustle going!