Brits now owe more on average than their annual salary, according to new research.
For every £1 earned, people are £1.02 in debt on credit cards, loans and mortgages, claims a study by Confused.com.
Across the nation, the highest debt to income levels were found in Kingston-Upon-Thames- where average debts hit 169 per cent of annual salaries.
Horsham, Watford, Bromley and Bromsgrove all recorded debts levels of over 150 per cent of income
This compares with Manchester where debt levels were at 51 per cent of income.
Gemma Stanbury, head of savings and loans at Confused, said: “As we face continued uncertainty and increased financial pressures, it is good advice for all to become more aware of what they are spending and on what.
“Where spend and debt can be reduced, efforts should be made to ensure it is done.”
Kingston-Upon-Thames hit the list due to the high levels of mortgage debt – with high house prices for the leafy Thames-side suburb.
Along the Thames and into Surrey, the levels of mortgage debt per head were found to be the highest.
In Richmond, Putney, Kingston-Upon-Thames, Wandsworth and Chiswick mortgage debts per person stood between £49,562 and £40,516.
Credit card debts were highest in Camberley at £2001.62 per person – while Bramley, Bracknell, St Albans and Bishops Stortford all saw people owing over £1,850.
Source: http://www.myfinances.co.uk/
As many card holders already know getting in debt is far easier than getting out of debt. In fact high interest credit card debt has a way of quickly overcoming your best efforts to keep it under control making financial freedom something few dare to dream of achieving. Fortunately there is good news for consumers trying to get out of debt, there are ways to get off of the debt roller coaster and get back on your feet again. Get on the fast track to financial freedom using the debt solution strategy below to eliminate your debt.
Gather all your information to outline a plan. You can’t get anywhere in life without a plan and that includes handling your finances. If you have a lot of debt there is a good chance you have multiple accounts with which to contend. Take the time to gather all of your statements to determine what you owe each credit card issuer, the interest rate for each account and contact information for each creditor. You will need this information to determine how you will proceed from this point forward.
Pick a card and begin paying. Sure it is not that easy. You don’t want to randomly pick just any card. Most people prioritize their debt payment in one of the following ways; interest rate or balance. The theory is simple, looking from a “numbers” perspective paying off your higher interest rate cards is the way to go to eliminate debt quickly. There are people however who need the motivational “push” of paying off balances. For this reason you must determine if you need to see accounts getting paid off quickly (you should then list your cards by balance) or if you are willing to take longer to pay off an account (you should list cards by interest rate). Once you determine which strategy is best for you, you will begin to aggressively repay the debt on the card you selected while keeping the other cards current and in good standing by making at least them minimum payment. Taking one card at a time you pay the balance for each until you are debt free.
Increase your payments. When advised to aggressively pay down debt as part of your strategy, you must find ways to pay more than the minimum payment on the card you selected to get the ball rolling. This may be hard in the current economy but it is the only true way to see changes in your balances. Making the minimum payment is simply extending the length of time you will be in debt, so finding ways to cut costs, or increase income are necessary to apply more money to your balance each month. There is nothing stopping your from making more than one payment per month (some cards may have a maximum number of payments but few people reach those limits). If you send money more than one time, you will be amazed at how quickly your balance will drop. If for whatever reason your find more money available in your budget, send a payment right away to avoid the extra money becoming “absorbed” into your daily spending.
Consider a balance transfer offer only if you can avoid incurring more debt. Balance transfer offers are not as lucrative or easy to come by as previous years, however there are still offers available that may make it worthwhile to consider. If you find a very low interest rate and can transfer higher balances it will give you some breathing room to pay down your debt without paying higher interest rates. You must be sure before transferring a balance that you have read and understand the terms and conditions with the new card offer (including balance transfer fees and length of introductory interest rate) to ensure the move will actually save you money. Also do not use your new card or the card you just paid off to incur more debt. Otherwise you are just adding to the amount of money you have to repay in the long run.
Getting out of debt by paying off your debt is not the easiest or fastest option available. For people who have the resources to pay off debt it is however the only choice that will preserve your credit and fulfill your financial obligations. It may not seem that paying your debt in full using the above strategy is actually very “fast” at all, until you consider the length of time it would take if you continue to make minimum payments and rack up more debt. Stop the debt cycle and start tackling your debt today to ensure financial stability in the future.
Please take time to visit the author: Elizabeth Williams, Editor-in-Chief for CreditCardFlyers.com
TREASURY OFFICIALS say further action will be taken to bring down Britain’s public borrowing, set to hit a record 12.4% of gross domestic product – £175 billion – this year.
They insist, however, that measures to cut the budget deficit will be taken over time and worries expressed last week by Standard & Poor’s, the ratings agency, are misplaced.
S&P revised its outlook for Britain’s sovereign debt rating from “stable” to “negative”, while maintaining the existing AAA status, warning that there could be a subsequent down-grade if measures are not introduced after the general election to rein back borrowing. It warned that public-sector debt could hit 100% of GDP over the next four years.
The International Monetary Fund, in its annual assessment of the UK economy, also warned that without “a more ambitious medium-term fiscal adjustment path”, trust in the sustainability of British policy would be tested.
You can read the rest of this story over at http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/economics/article6350155.ece
Thousands of debtors using free debt advice services could be asked to undergo “self-help” in a bid to ease the increasing strain on advisers.
Debt advice organisations are currently in talks about running a pilot scheme that would see more financially aware debtors tackle their own problems. Instead of spending hours with a debt adviser filling out a budget sheet they would be given guidance and sent away to do it themselves.
The completed sheet would be approved by a debt advice service such as Citizens Advice or the National Debtline and sent on to any creditors.
The Money Advice Trust, the debt charity that runs the National Debtline, believes the scheme could cut face-to-face advice time from a typical five hours to one hour.
Read the rest of Debt Advice Charities Overwhelmed
It seems the economy has taken its toll on popular national bar and pub chain Mitchells and Butlers. They have seen a massive fall in profits, the biggest in the companies history and a increase in overall debt - things might be a bit rocky for the foreseeable future.
The Times has more…
The pubs group, which suffered a £391 million hedging loss last year after it was forced to scrap a controversial property joint venture with Robert Tchenguiz, is also tipped to report a sharp rise in the book loss on the remaining portion of that hedge.
M&B, which declined to make any comment before today’s interim figures, had been rumoured to be considering a rights issue to bolster its balance sheet. However, it is thought to have ruled out such a move for now, possibly after discussion with large shareholders, such as Joe Lewis, the Bahamas-based billionaire, who has a 25 per cent stake.
Analysts said that while M&B was likely to have benefited from the general pickup in trading in recent weeks, on the back of improving consumer confidence and the better weather, this will have been offset by the impact of the heavy snow experienced in February. It is expected to report a rise in like-for-like sales of just over 1 per cent in the period since January 24 – marginally ahead of the 1 per cent increase achieved in the previous nine weeks – amid market share gains in both food and drink, although its performance is likely to lag that of JD Wetherspoon, its rival.
Read more at The Times Online
As we had towards the end of the academic year, the latest crop of veterinary students is close to graduation. They’ll be coming out into a very different world to the one that greeted my own generation of young vets.
As a veterinary student in the mid-eighties, I remember fellow students feeling aggrieved about the paltry support that we received from the government. Of course, all our tuition fees were paid by the state - we took that for granted. We were also paid a means-tested subsistence allowance - from memory, it may have been something like £3000 per annum. Not enough to party on, but enough for survival.
Most vet students topped up their allowance by working on farms during holiday breaks, doing jobs such as assisting with lambing sheep, which doubled up as useful experience. The money earned allowed us to enjoy a social life that would have been otherwise impossible to afford. Most of us qualified with a small debt, perhaps of a few thousand quid, but nothing that couldn’t be cleared after a few months hard grafting in the workplace.
Read the rest of this story here
In times of financial crisis, you can’t help yourself from borrowing money from financial institutions. They are just around the corner and willing to lend you money. With the availability of loans and credit cards, it’s always nice to avail some. If you want to buy a new car but cash is short, you can get a car loan. There is also home loan in order to have your dream house. It’s not only the two; there are still many kinds of loan you can avail of. Credit cards also are just a temptation to you. You can’t help if you want to purchase something using your credit cards.
However, the problem with too many borrowings is the amount of liabilities you will have. You may lose track of all your obligations and may cause you hard time in managing all your debts. A debt management advice may be of help to you. You will need all the tips you can get into making a good plan in handling all your debts. You can have free advice on the internet or from articles, magazines and books. Or better yet, you may seek advice from the services of a debt management company. The company will assist you in managing all you debts.
The company employs experts and will negotiate with your lenders regarding your liabilities. Included in the service is making plans for you to follow. The debt management advice will truly provide sound and smart solution on your current predicament. Your financial condition will be assessed so as to come up with a monthly payment you can afford. If ever you already defaulted in your payments, the company can negotiate for either a reduction interest or whatever favorable on your part. A debt management advice is really important in overcoming your problems. A professional help is not necessarily needed but if you can’t do it yourself, it’s rather good to hire one.
You will be assisted and you won’t do all the work. Majority of the planning process will be entrusted to your chosen debt management company. Your role is to stick with the plan. Even though there is a perfect plan, you will still not overcome your debt problems if you’re not following what is required from you. Aside from hiring assistance, you can opt to doing it yourself. The books on the library can be a good source of debt management advice. You will not be spending even a cent in this. The said advice will be useful if you will just follow it.
There are various articles which tackle on the matter and you can use it in managing all your debts. You just have to select tips which are applicable to your condition. You can subscribe for newsletters on the internet also. Some newsletters will teach you on how to properly handle your liabilities. You may receive advices like always paying on time so as not to incur any delays. Just stick to what’s beneficial to you. A debt management advice is truly a big help.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rick_Goldfeller
Judges in England and Wales are considering putting on hold up to 100,000 claims for the cancellation of credit card debt and other consumer debts.
Many of the cases have been generated by claims-handling firms advertising in the newspapers and on TV.
The firms argue that the debts cannot be enforced if lenders have not kept the right paper work.
The judiciary is planning to select a few claims for a test case in the High Court to decide the issues involved.
A spokesman for the Judicial Communications Office explained that the aim was to find a way of dealing with a very large number of claims.
To read more visit: Judges Seek Hold on Debt Claims
UK housing tenants are more in debt than at any time since the late 1980s, a landlords group has said.
Hundreds of thousands are falling behind with rental payments, largely due to rising unemployment, according to the National Landlords Association.
The situation was “pretty dire” with at least a third of members owed money, the association added.
In the past year, the association has taken more than 20,000 calls from landlords worried about rent arrears.
Read More: Tenants ‘in most debt since 80s’
LONDON — A day after laying out its most dismal budget plan in decades, the U.K. government became the focus of fresh investor concerns about its ability to handle a costly financial and economic bailout.
Prices of U.K. government bonds fell for the second day Thursday as investors digested the country’s plans to borrow an added £606 billion ($877.25 billion) over the next four years and worried that even the government’s own gloomy budget forecast — which sees it running large deficits through the year 2017 — may be too optimistic. Complicating the picture: The government itself must face re-election by June of next year, casting doubt on its promises to ultimately get its finances under control.
“They’re looking through rose-tinted glasses,” said Scott Thiel, a London-based bond portfolio manager for investment firm BlackRock Inc. “You can go to a very dark place with this budget.”
On Wednesday, U.K. Treasury chief Alistair Darling said that the cost of the country’s economic-stimulus and banking-bailout plans, together with falling tax revenues, would force the government to run its largest peacetime budget deficit on record — about 12% of gross domestic product in both of the next two years. Even if, as the government predicts, the economy returns quickly to growth after shrinking by 3.5% in 2009, Mr. Darling said the deficit would remain above 5% of GDP in 2013. That would push government’s debt up to more than 75% of GDP, from about 43% now.
Many economists, though, see government forecasts as too optimistic. For one, Mr. Darling estimates the cost of the U.K.’s bank-bailout efforts at as much as £50 billion, less than half what the International Monetary Fund expects. Economists are also skeptical that a new 50% income-tax rate for top earners, planned for 2010, will bring in much added revenue.
Read the rest of this story by Neil Shah:
Worries About U.K.’s Soaring Debt Depress Gilt Prices Again
