I couldn’t help myself. I just wanted to bring a little happiness to my family and friends. I didn’t want my children to have to do without. We deserve a little happiness. Everybody overspends a little at Christmas.
I didn’t realise how much I was spending. Why do they give us credit cards if they don’t want us to use them? I’ll get my credit card debt under control in the New Year.
So what’s your excuse? And do you really believe it? And does it matter any way?
The truth is that we all want to enjoy Christmas and if we have overspent – so what. It’s our problem and we will find a solution somehow. And we are not alone. Experts believe that six million of us won’t be able to pay our bills at the start of 2010, due to our spending at Christmas. That’s about one in every ten men, women and children in the country. Now, we cannot blame the children. Leave the children out of it and you could say that one in every eight adults in this country will be in this boat.
And it does matter, doesn’t it? We do want to do something about it. We want to grasp the nettle and get our finances under control. But a lot of us will struggle to do this. As many as three million of us are still paying off our debts from the previous Christmas!
Here’s a thought! Instead of making a whole lot of trivial New Year Resolutions, why not make just one: ‘I will deal with my debt in 2014’.
That feels good. So what do I do next? Can I quantify the problem? How much do I owe? How much do I earn? How much do I need to live on if I really tighten my belt? Can my family help? Do I have any real assets? Will my creditors negotiate with me? Where can I get help? How much will that cost me?
If you are still reading this short article, then it must strike a chord with you. And there is help available. A reputable Insolvency Practitioner (IP) will provide free advice on all of your options. Go to an IP for advice. Go to more than one IP. Compare their free advice. A reputable IP will look at all of your financial circumstances (and not just your credit card bills) and will advise you on all of the options open to you. You should incur no costs in obtaining this advice. Options include entering into an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA), engaging in a Debt Management Plan or even petitioning for your own Bankruptcy (BCY). There may be other options available as well. Choose the option you want to go with. The IP will spell out the costs of each option and how long it will take to resolve your debt problems. Keep your one New Year Resolution this year. You will feel better.