by Wayne Leon Learmond

Created on: January 03, 2010   Last Updated: January 06, 2010

In this day and age when recession is biting deep into the pockets of the well-off (and not so well-off) the thought of debt management comes to the fore. There are more people in debt now then there has ever been at any time in the past. Why are people in debt? That is an easy question to answer. With the advent of Credit Cards (which is, in effect invisible money), bank loans, catalogues (where you buy now, pay later), and other such schemes, getting into debt has never been easier.

The problem with this is that once a person has found themselves deep in debt, and buried under a mountain of red letter bills they do one of two things: They either leave the bills unopened, and put them in their drawer, ignoring them altogether, or they run away, hoping that in their new homes their debtors will not find them. 

Both scenarios are the worst things you could do as it just antagonises and multiplies the situation even more. The companies/banks you owe money too become more angry and less understanding, while you become more worried with every passing day. How do you get out of a situation where you have fallen into debt?  Well, the first thing to do, which is the hardest thing for some people to do, is to stop ignoring the situation. Never ignore debt letters that come through your letterbox, as the problem will not go away. It will still be there, and the longer you ignore them the more interest is added onto your original debts.

So, the first thing is not to ignore them. Sit down, take a deep breath and gather all your debts together, every single one of them. Then work out how much you could reasonably pay back over the course of so many months.  A good tip here is that if you have some debts which are reasonably small in comparison to maybe some of the big one you may have, then always try and pay off the small ones first. The reason for this is that the debts for the smaller amounts you owe are more quickly paid off enabling you then to concentrate on your more bigger debts.

Also it is a good idea if you could maybe hire somebody who has knowledge of debt management. Here in the UK we have orgnisations called  the C.A.B {Citizens Advice Bereau}. These organisations here in the UK, have been running for many many years, helping people who find themselves in deep debt. What they do is speak to the companies on your behalf. So, in other words, you go to them with all of your debts at hand, and explain to them how you are struggling to meet the

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