End of January 'is the perfect time to plan debt repayment scheme'
Published On 24 January 2008
The end of January is a good time for people to look at their debt levels and make a plan about how best to deal with it, an industry expert has said.Donald Macleod, head of cards at Sainsbury's Bank, explained that many people ran up debt over the Christmas period but the true extent of their borrowing would not have become clear until the end of January.
He added that credit card bills tended to arrive at this point and this meant that it was the perfect moment "to sit down and look at your finances".
What's more, he said: "Appraise where you are and see if there's a better way of handling that debt; look at loans, look at restructuring, the zero per cent interest rates out there."
After the financial excesses of Christmas, Mr Macleod said that it was vital people made "a new year's resolution to say what [their] ingoings and outgoings are and sort [their] finances out" if they hoped to avoid the need for an IVA in the coming months.
Last week, the government announced plans designed to help people struggling with personal debt.
At the time, civil justice minister Bridget Prentice explained that the new Enforcement Restriction Order "will help people avoid getting deeper and deeper into debt by providing a balanced approach to the problem".
