Dreaming about being debt free is as natural as dreaming about achieving any other personal or professional goal. We dream about finding solutions to our personal financial problems which will wipe out our debts quickly.
There are seven practical steps we can take before we opt for one of the big four solutions of Bankruptcy, IVA (Individual Voluntary Arrangement), Debt Management or Debt Consolidation or one of the two less frequently used solutions of Debt Relief Orders or Administration Orders.
- how much unsecured debt do I have? It is easy enough to obtain
balances on unsecured debts from current account statements, loan
statements, store card statements, credit card statements and utility
statements and by asking creditors for balances.
- how much secured debt do I have? Again the information can be
obtained from recent mortgage statements, secured loan statements &
HP agreements and by asking the creditors.
- what are the contractual monthly outgoings on each unsecured account as well as on the secured debts?
- What is my net income from my employment (after tax, NI, pension and
other deductions)? What is the income of my co-habiting spouse or
partner? What is the income of any non-dependent children residing with
me/us?
- What are my living expenses and those of my partner/spouse and dependent children?
- What are the approximate values of my/our main assets e.g. house and cars?
With the above information it is possible to draw up a summary of
Assets & Liabilities and of Income & Expenditure. It may be
necessary to obtain help to put these in a standard format but it can be
done without incurring any great expense. - Am I insolvent? In other words can I meet my financial obligations
as they fall due and do my liabilities exceed my assets? At this point
it is advisable to get independent advice on whether you are insolvent
or not and it should be possible to do so without incurring cost.
Final consideration before carrying out step seven: is there anything
I can do to increase my income or reduce my living expenses? Here are
just a few ideas:
- Could I/we take in a lodger or two and thereby increase our income?
- Are our tax credits correct – maybe they should be higher?
- Are my/our non-dependent children contributing their fair share of the household expenses? Are they paying a reasonable rent?
- Do I need such a big expensive car? Do we as a couple need two cars? Can I/we use public transport?
- Can we make lifestyle economies e.g. holidays, Sky, socializing?
- Is giving up smoking an option for me/us?
- Can I/we re-mortgage at a better rate?
- Can I/we switch our mortgage from repayment to interest only?