A Future without Debt
The month of the year when many people find that they are under the most financial pressure is January. Christmas and the New Year have left deep footprints in the snow of our credit cards and the winter fuel bills are biting more keenly than Jack Frost himself.
At least when the weather warms we can turn down our central heating system and try to save a little money, but it seems that for people who pay their fuel bills by direct debit, the utility companies take this opportunity to increase monthly payments in order to place accounts in a credit situation in preparation for the winter months when again the bills will bite and the companies will undoubtedly increase their charges. Argue with them and they will take away the 10% reduction you receive for paying by direct debit.
This year it looks as if there will be little respite during the summer months. With historic levels of national debt, it seems that the government is determined that we should endure prolonged future austerity as punishment for taking the advice of the previous government and maxing out our credit cards just as they maxed out the credit card of the economy. No more boom and bust was the mantra then, today it is simply no more boom, not now, not ever.
Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this sun of York. No longer can we afford to live in fantasy land; no longer can we avoid debt management. The time has come when we must work out where our money is coming from and where it is going to and try to make it so that there is at least just a little left over. We need to talk to our creditors, to persuade them to reduce their pounds of flesh, to freeze their charges and reduce their interest payments.
There can be a future without debt, but to find it we need to plan and to take action; debt management is the key to that future.
