When is the right time to get debt help?
If you have problems with debt, it’s best to get debt help sooner rather than later. Don’t be afraid to ask for help – dealing with debt can be very difficult, but speaking to someone with the right experience can take away some of the pressure.
If your debt looks like it’s becoming unmanageable, start by drawing up a budget. Ask yourself whether you are living within your means, whether you could get any additional income from anywhere and whether you could cut back on any spending. If you do all those things, but still can’t afford your unsecured debt payments as well as your rent or mortgage, bills, Council Tax (and all the other essentials), it may be time to get debt help.
Every individual in this world is different – the debt advice that helps one person may not be right for another. This article can provide some general pointers, but for more debt advice, look at this site. You’ll find information about the different debt solutions that are available, one of which could be right for you.
When to get debt advice
If you have an unexpected change in circumstances that affects your finances (for example, redundancy, a divorce, or an illness that prevents you from working) getting debt advice now could help you to prevent your debt spiralling out of control in the future.
If you have debts and you know your finances will change in the near future, e.g. because you are: approaching retirement, planning a family, planning a wedding or planning to buy a house, you may decide you need debt help. Any of these big ‘life changes’ will have an impact on your finances and (potentially) your ability to repay debt.
So prepare yourself for these changes by drawing up a new budget. If you think you may struggle on your new budget, getting debt help now could prevent debt problems further down the line.
If you are facing eviction or repossession because of rent or mortgage arrears, there are a number of things you can do before things have a chance to get to that stage, so get some debt advice immediately. If you are worried about becoming homeless, Shelter provides help and advice.
Finding the right debt advice
There is no ‘right time’ to get debt help – but debts can spiral out of control when they’re not dealt with. It’s possible to get debt help without ever reaching that stage if you recognise a developing debt problem and get help to deal with it sooner rather than later.
You could use a search engine, for example, or ask family and friends if they know of an organisation that they’ve found to provide useful debt advice.
