Do you find it difficult to pay your bills every month? Are you in debt? Are you looking for ways in which to reduce your level of debt? In this article I write about ways in which we can control and reduce our debts which I hope will prove beneficial to people who read it.

A few years ago, I found that I was not earning enough money each month to pay for all of the direct debits, standing orders and loans that were being taken out of my bank account. I now found it hard to get to sleep at night as the additional stress was at times seemingly unbearable. I had realised this too late and was already in quite a large amount of debt, stupid I know.

I have to say that in truth it was all my own fault. The patio doors company where I was working had been offering overtime for the last two years. I took them up on the chance to earn extra money but I soon took it for granted and saw it as part of my monthly wages. There was it seemed no reason as to why the company would stop this opportunity to work overtime. To my DISGUST and shock they did announce that the overtime was to come to an end and my wages returned to what they had been originally. I didn’t think this would be a problem however as I had coped alright before. When checking my bank statement a few months later, I realised however that it was a problem. I now needed a debt management specialist!

It was time for a reality check. I needed to sit down and work out all of the things that I spent money on each month. What could I go without etc? I had signed up to a number of new contracts since my earnings had increased via the overtime, such as cable television. I basically had a choice, I could try to earn some more money via working part time somewhere or I had to sacrifice some of the things that I was spending the money on. I decided to do both.

I then went about cutting down on the extravagants and I also started to earn a second income by working part time for a company that provided underfloor heating.

What I have now decided to do, is to save money when I am doing well, such as when I have any overtime. This way, when the overtime is taken away, I will have a nice tidy sum in the bank to enjoy. I have to admit that I never want to get myself into debt again.