Most of us will come up against some kind of financial difficulty at least once in our lifetime. Whether that’s an overdraft you can’t seem to clear, a missed bill, payaday loan payments or problems with your mortgage payments, it can be worrying – but at what point do you decide that help is needed?

There is plenty of help out there, for varying degrees of difficulty with debt and for all kinds of personal circumstances. Even if you have debts you don’t think you’ll ever be able to repay, there are solutions available that might be able to help you.

You probably don’t need telling that you should get debt advice as soon as you realise you’re struggling with your debts. However, even if you’re not really struggling now, there may be signs that you could benefit from a bit of advice.

Early signs of a debt problem
Here are some of the things you should look out for.

- You’re always in your overdraft before the end of the month
- You have credit card debts that are taking a very long time to repay
- You frequently have to ‘borrow’ money from next month’s pay to get by
- You don’t have much money left after paying for bills and other commitments.

If you can say yes to any of the above, then you should be careful. A sudden change in your circumstances could make it very difficult to manage your debts. But rather than waiting for it to get to that point, why not do something about it now?

Getting back on top of your finances
As long as your situation hasn’t become too serious, there may be a few things you can do to set yourself on the road to clearing your debts.

Budgeting
Sometimes, people get into trouble just because they haven’t planned their finances properly. But by ensuring you always set enough aside for your essential expenses, a well-planned budget could make all the difference.

Creating a budget is simple: just add up your essential expenses and subtract the total from your take-home pay. Make sure you include your debt repayments in your expenses. If you find that your outgoings exceed your income, get expert advice immediately.

Cutting back
Cutting back on a few things you don’t need could leave you with a lot more room for repaying your debts. For example, cancelling that unused gym membership or getting rid of an unnecessary TV subscription could free up a lot of cash.
If necessary – get debt advice
If none of the above advice helps you, it may be a good idea to get debt advice from an expert. There are various debt solutions available to help people in all kinds of circumstances, and by talking to an expert debt adviser you can find out which one might be right for you.