If you’re carrying a lot of consumer debt, you can be in a near constant state of panic when it comes to repaying your bills, but here’s how to keep your cool.

It’s incredibly stressful when it comes to clearing your consumer debt, and not even just payday loan related debt. In fact, most payday advance borrowers are already in hot water when it comes to high levels of debt from traditional sources such as credit cards, so clearing your overall levels of debt will not only leave you with less anxiety but also prevent you from having to turn to a payday lender in the first place.

come up with a plan of action

The first thing you should do in order to tackle any debt hanging over your head is to come up with a plan of action for repaying any and all debtors and in which order. You do this by prioritising your debt and then reviewing your finances in order to come up with the best course of action.

However, this isn’t always easy to do, even in situations where you’re not suffering from stress and sleepless nights brought about by trying to juggle your regular bills such as food, rent, and utilities while also dealing with bill collectors pounding down your door. This is why your best bet may be to contact a debt advice charity, as these organisations have qualified debt counselors that you can talk to you and offer you advice on handling your debt problems – all without being judgmental or treating you with condescension or condemnation for getting yourself into trouble with excess debt.

The repayment plan – your secret weapon

The most important thing you should learn – regardless of whether you ring up your local debt advice charity – is that your lenders would much rather get something from you than nothing. What this means that if you contact them and attempt to negotiate a repayment plan you will almost always walk away successful, putting an end to those collection calls and tense moments.

Even if it’s a few quid a month, you can offer to begin repayment of your debt at a rate that’s affordable to you and will at least placate your creditors to the point of giving you a bit of breathing room. Once you do this, you can get back to the business of simply living your life again in peace, and you always have the option to ring your creditor back up and alter the details of your repayment plan if you can afford to begin clearing your deb at a faster rate – and now that you don’t have to worry about interest accruing any more, you should begin to clear your debt faster than you thought possible originally.

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Image: Credit Cards by Andres Rueda