Debt Information Center

Debt and health issues

Debt is proven to have a detrimental effect on an individual's health. One in six people have experienced...

Debt collection companies

Debt collection agencies are companies that specialize in buying and collecting debts. They can either buy the debt from the original creditor or are paid a percentage...

Debt Management

Coping with debt is a fact of life for many of us today. There are many legitimate reasons why we make use of credit facilities and therefore ensuring effective management of our debts is...

Effective budgeting

A budget is a spending plan that takes into account your monthly income and expenditure, so that you have a clear idea of where your...

Effective communication

One of the great temptations when faced with debt is to put things off. Burying your head may seem foolish, but for many people it's the only way of coping with what feels like...

Generating Income

For many people looking to increase income due to rising costs and debt repayments, the idea of maximising income has already been fully explored. However it may...

Living in an Overdraft

It's a depressing experience. The arrival of the payslip which may in the past have been greeted with much pleasure (or relief!) is now a reminder that most...

Making financial Priorities

Some are meticulous with finances - they can account for every penny spent and are always in control. Whereas others...

Managing money

Managing money starts with a knowledge of our income and outgoings. There are a number of sources of income...

Missing payments on debts

Whether by accident or design, missing payments on debts can be a serious matter. If it's by accident, we may well be able to...

On being an ostrich

There are a number of approaches to dealing with debt, but burying your head in the sand is unlikely to be a successful one. However...

Payday loans

Since the credit crunch began, an estimated three million have used a payday loan to access money quickly. For some it's a perfect solution. Used properly such a...

PPI claims

Millions of people affected by PPI mis-selling could now be entitled to compensation. The rules around how lenders can sell PPI have changed - it can no longer be...

Priority debts

Priority debts are your most important debts - ones which cover your essential costs of living. Your priority debts include...

Reading the small print

A Guardian survey shows just 7% of people read the full terms when buying a product or service online, while a fifth say they have suffered from not doing so...

Reducing expenditure

To state the obvious, the two obvious ways to improve our finances are by either increasing income (see separate article) and by reducing expenditure. For many of us, making minor changes can make...

Not a bad situation for Paul, but not so goods for Peter and definitely not good news for you. Many debtors find themselves in the situation where the only way they can afford to meet debt repayments is by...

Self employed

When people receive consistent income amounts - salary, pensions, benefits - the figure is known and can be used to assess repayment levels. However for the self-employed, working out net income is not as straightforward...

Understanding APR

APR stands for 'Annual Percentage Rate' and it's used to describe the true cost of money borrowed via mortgages, loans or credit cards etc. The APR calculation takes into account...

Using credit to pay off credit

Credit can attract varying degrees of interest charges. It is sound financial sense to make use of a credit facility with a lower interest rate to clear a form of credit with...

Utilising assets

The majority of our payment has been added back on to the debt by way of interest charges. It may be that any asset we have could be utilised to find a better way forward...