Debtors ‘need to rethink spending’

Those experiencing debt management problems have been advised by an industry expert to rethink their spending in order to help prevent falling into uncontrolled debt.

In an article for the Daily Telegraph, Martin Lewis of Moneysupermarket.com observed that the UK is “a debt-illiterate nation” and is “second in the world cup of personal debt only to the superpower of borrowing, the US”.

According to Mr Lewis, the best way to prevent financial indiscipline is to stop spending, although he added that this can be difficult to do as “habits are hard-ingrained” and “thought processes are wrong”.

He suggested that debtors implement their own money mantras, designed to check impulses to spend by asking questions such as ‘do I need it?’ and ‘will I use it?’. If the answers are no, the purchase should not be made.

Earlier this month, it emerged that students can receive debt help while at university by paying a visit to money doctors, who feature in over 70 higher education institutions across the country.

By Sarah Adie