There are a number of ways to manage your debt. The one that's best for you will depend on how much debt you're carrying, and what your personal circumstances are. Each one is a standard debt management tool and you can get more advice on each one by talking to a debt expert like Varden Nuttall, or your local Citizens' Advice Bureau.

Dealing directly with your creditors

If you are in the early stages of debt, it's always a good idea to try talking directly to your creditors. It may be difficult to pick up the phone for the first time and admit that you're having problems, but if you have a sympathetic lender, you could find that one or two phone calls will help to give you the breathing space you need in order to sort out your money problems. Even when your debt is more serious, you may find that acknowledging that you have a problem will make your lender treat you differently.

Debt consolidation loans

A well-known debt management tool is the debt consolidation loan. These loans are advertised heavily across all media and are targeted at those people who have significant debts with many different lenders, including mortgage lenders, credit and store card companies and loan agreements. A debt consolidation loan replaces all your debts with a single loan. You use the money from the loan to pay off all your other debts, and you are left with one monthly payment to make. It certainly makes managing your money easier, but you need to make sure that you're happy with the interest rates being charged and any restrictions on when you can pay the loan back.

Individual Voluntary Arrangement

Also known as an IVA, this is a relatively new debt management solution. Administered by an insolvency expert, and IVA allows you to contact all of your creditors to see if they will agree to a regular monthly payment at a set level over a five year period. Once the period is over, your debts will be cleared. This is a solution for people who are experiencing significant debt. You shouldn't consider it if you just owe a few hundred pounds on your credit card.

Bankruptcy

This should be the last resort in debt management. A public, legal and serious procedure, bankruptcy takes away all the control you have over your income and your assets. Whilst some personal bankruptcy processes may clear your debts within just a year, it will leave a significant blot on your credit record and will affect nearly everything you do financially for many years to come.

Varden Nuttall has been established for over 15 years and is dedicated to helping people in financial difficulty find a debt management solution through an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA). Employing 90 people, including trained and skilled IVA administrators, we are one of the largest IVA companies in the UK and handle over 3% of all IVA applications. To find out more about the company, or to make an appointment to talk about putting an IVA in place, call us today on 0800 031 9802 or fill in our online enquiry form.