In the training, which took place in the 2007, we were warned that the UK was about to go into recession. Nothing went into the news about it, only we seemed to be told. Nobody worried about their money beyond a few people, it was still a part of the boom years.
I should tell you at this point that basically my job was to be the first point of contact for people who were having worry's about their finances. The basic idea behind the calls was to fill in an income and expenditure form, then based on the info from that, talk to the customer about the different options, like would it be best for them to consolodate their debt into a loan or mortgage? An IVA? even going bankrupt was the best for some people.
The company was taking on in advance, because they knew that with the increase in business they were getting, that hard times were on the way for the country. Each call would take about 45 minutes, maybe an hour or longer. The building had 3 call centre's and was expanding at the time, each call centre had about 60 staff in, all taking calls and the call que's kept getting bigger and bigger.
Of course, they proved us right. Not long after my leaving, the UK was officially in a recession, banks left right and centre were crumbling at the foundations and nobody had any answers on what to do. The government threw money at banks, which in my opinion, should have been left to fail. People were starting to lose their jobs as company's worried about times ahead.... since then, nothing much has changed really, nobody wants to be the risk taker in doing a massive take-on of staff and expanding.
But here's where i keep my eye, and when i'll decide for myself, if we are out of recession or not.
You see, in advance, this debt advice company knew that we were headed into trouble. While i no longer work there, you can still find out infomation on how their business is doing. When their business stops being so busy, when more people can manage their debt or not get into it, then i'll see that thing's are on the way up, as it stands, that isn't for a while yet. You worry about the UK going into a tripple dip recession? We already are showing sign's that thing's won't be right for years to come.
So what can you do?
My honest advice when it comes to debt, after having sort of worked in the industry, would be to not get into debt, simple. Knowing though that some people have no choice but to get into debt, my advice would be, don't take your eye off it for 1 second. You might not believe it, but debt itself is a killer. People get so stressed out about it that it can lead to them trying to take their own lives, not only that, but if you get into loan sharks and dodgy dealings, then of course, death can come in other forms too.
You see, all debt is manageable one way or another. You'd be amazed at how people can get into debt too. I remember taking a call from a book keeper, who's role is to advise people on debt and make them balance their books, she'd gone and gotten into about £100,000 worth of debt. Shockingly at this point i should say that this really isn't a rare thing and that the biggest amount i found in one of my calls was just under half a million pounds, all done through mortgages, credit cards, loans and dodgy dealings.
If you do have to get into debt like i say, watch it with a hawks eye, never take your eye off it, it's the downfall of so many people. Hidden charges, interest and just general bad management of debt can lead to it often doubling in size.
Next, would be to work out how much you are in. Get all of the letters together, even if they're from debt collection company's, get them together and work it out. It is common for people to ignore debt and debt chaser's, but the longer you do this, the worse it will become. Once you've worked out how much debt you are in (a rough figure would be ok at this stage), you need to then work out how much spare at the end of the month you have to pay off this debt.
We always did an income and expenditure form and you'd be amazed at the thing's you have to account for... here's a rough example....
MONTHLY EXPENDITURE
Mortgage/Rent
Mortgage Endowment
Mortgage Arrears
Secured Loan
Council Tax
Buildings Insurance
Contents Insurance
Life Insurance
Personal Pension
Gas/Electricity
Telephone
TV Licence
Food & Cleaning
Toiletries
Tobacco/Alcohol
Clothing
Child Maintenance
School Meals
Pocket Money
Travel Expenses
Car Insurance
Car Finance
Servicing/Recovery Service
AMOUNT
Petrol
Health Costs
TV/Video Rental
EXPENDITURE TOTAL
Total monthly outgoings
Then of course you'd need to work out exactly what your income is. Your income basically works as, your RELIABLE monthly income. So do not include bonus' that can be gained through work, unless they are apart of your usual income that will be in your wage every month at a set amount.
Then work out your left over, so it'd be Income total - Expenditure total = monthly spare.
Brain hurting you yet?
It's shocking how much you spend per month and yes, you need to put something in for everything!!!
Now depending on how much you have left over at the end of the month, really shows what will be best for you, this is where YOU need to contact a debt advice company, if you are having problems controlling your debt.
Remember though, debt doesn't vanish if you ignore it. Debt can be managed but you need to face it full on. Seeking help is not a sign of weakness.
So, finally...
There's lots of things for you to look at when it comes to seeing if the UK is out of recession or not. While yes, some of us will think the government is wrong for doing some of the thing's they're doing, in the future, we may come to thank them for their actions as with some of their policy's, they are looking to the financial future and setting us up for that. Sure, they're not going to get everything right, not every government can, but when you start to see a dip in the profit's of debt management company's, then i'll start to believe that things are looking up....
No comments:
Post a Comment