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THINGS I CAN AND SHOULD BE DOING NOW TO REDUCE MY DEBTS

1. I can and should actually be making a start NOW

Alex Keen's book Life after Debt (a Consumers' Association Which? book) is in effect an A-Z of debt-related problems aimed at people for whom debt has got out of control. 'A recovered debtor' himself, Keen knows that this can happen with awful suddenness: problems build up gradually until a missed repayment or an unpaid bill triggers a crisis. But, as you can read in the Foreword of his book,

The key to managing a debt problem is prompt action...

This advice is echoed in Managing Debt - A Guide for Older People (editors Yvonne Gallacher and Jim Gray), a source of advice which is valid for people of all ages.

Recognising and admitting that you have financial problems is a crucial first step in solving them.

A sense of urgency and determination should not however lead to panic. Not until chapter 5 of Getting out of Debt and Staying out does Tony Palmer come to what the hard-pressed debtor can be doing NOW, but his chapter title makes his position plain: Don't panic if it all goes wrong. Like Alex Keen, he suggests that there are warning signs of approaching difficulties, that there may be no need to worry if you spot only one or two of these signs, but that if there are more than one or two you should take action.

Panic is not the only negative emotion to avoid. In Debt Problems Explained - The Bankruptcy Association's Guide to Serious Debt Problems, authors John McQueen and Gill Hankey, both of whom have personal experience of debt, counsel:

Try to avoid feeling shame or humiliation in debt.

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