Debt Camel

Answers to questions about debts and credit ratings - in plain English!

  • Home
  • Coronavirus
  • Refunds ▾
    • Amigo’s proposed Scheme
    • Guarantor loans
    • Doorstep loan refunds
    • Catalogues, credit cards & overdrafts
    • Refunds from large high cost loans
    • Payday loan refunds
  • Debt problems ▾
    • Priority debts
    • Sold to a debt collector
    • Old debts
    • CCJs
    • Bailiffs
  • Debt solutions ▾
    • Debt Management Plans
    • Bankruptcy
    • Debt Relief Orders
    • IVAs
    • Compare 2 solutions
  • Money ▾
    • Budgeting & Saving
    • Credit ratings
    • Mortgages
  • Latest ▾
    • All posts
    • Debt news & policy
    • A reader asks…
  • About ▾
    • About Debt Camel
    • Media
    • Contact

Other Money

I write about a  lot of Personal Finance that isn't directly about problem debts. Those articles are gathered here.

Spending - reducing or controlling it is usually essential if you want to reduce your debts. So Budgeting is another big topic.

Your grandparents used a pen and paper, but now we have Apps to make all this easier.

Mortgages - sometimes thought of as the only good sort of debt!

Credit ratings - important if you have too much debt or very little!

2 apps that make it simple and painless to save

2 apps that make it painless to save!

Should you have money left each month but it just seems to vanish? If you are paying off debts, you may still want to put a bit aside so it's easier to cope with unexpected problems. This article looks at Plum and Chip, two apps that take the hard work out of saving. They move small amounts that you won't miss from your bank account into a savings account several times a month. I like them … [Read more...]

May 29, 2020 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: Budgeting & Saving

Help with funeral costs

Funerals are expensive. The average funeral now costs £4,000 - that is an 80% increase in the last ten years. This article looks at ways of covering all or some of the funeral costs if you have to organise a funeral, let's say for Sally as I don't want to keep writing "the deceased". Funeral Payments can help if you are benefits If you get certain means-tested benefits including Universal … [Read more...]

April 4, 2020 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: benefits

Save a house deposit or pay off debt?

A reader asked: "A friend said not to pay my defaulted debts off but save money towards a deposit for a mortgage - is this a good idea?" It's often unwise to rely on friends for debt advice... They may be guessing, their situation may have been quite different from yours, or they may be assuming what happened to them years ago is still useful today. But they may know nothing about the current … [Read more...]

March 14, 2020 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: Budgeting & Saving, Mortgages

Don’t let credit rating worries make your debts worse

If you have too much debt, you may not want to do anything that will harm your credit score. But do you have any better alternatives? That depends on three factors: what is your credit record like at the moment? If it isn't good, then it isn't worth trying to protect! Check your credit score now, so you have accurate information. can you make the monthly payments to your debts?  The … [Read more...]

February 15, 2020 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: Credit ratings

7 ways to give to charity when you can’t afford to give money

Giving to charity is a great thing to be able to do, but if you have a lot of problem debt or you are trying hard to save up a house deposit, you may think you just can't spare any money. It's fine to put your own family first - but that doesn't mean you stop caring about and wanting to help other people. And many parents want their children to grow up thinking giving to charity and … [Read more...]

December 1, 2019 Author: Sara Williams

How much will my credit score change if … ?

spotlights giving credit scores over a city

How much will my credit rating go up or down is a very common question. But it's often tricky to answer! Here are some guideline numbers from Experian that may help. These are only indications - your credit score may not go up or down by this much. They assume nothing else has changed on your record. They also apply to single issues. If you have two defaults already, getting a third won't be as … [Read more...]

November 18, 2019 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: Credit ratings

How to cut your grocery bill and still eat well

If you want to cut your expenses, food should be high up on your list. Food shopping is a large part of most people's budgets and it's also one that you have a lot of control over. It's not easy or quick to cut what you spend on rent, council tax or transport costs, but adopting a few new food habits can help you reduce your grocery bill and still eat well. Plan, plan, plan Planning is the … [Read more...]

November 1, 2019 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: Budgeting & Saving

An emergency fund – how much do you need & how to save it

squirrel

A lot of personal finance advice starts out with “Everyone needs an emergency fund”. A survey showed that a third of middle-class families couldn’t pay an unexpected bill of £500 without borrowing, so the lack of savings is a very widespread problem. But what if you already have debts that you are paying off? Accumulating an emergency fund will delay clearing the debts … but having a rainy day … [Read more...]

October 30, 2019 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: Budgeting & Saving, Snowballing

£140 help with your electricity bill this winter

Are you worrying about how to afford the heating this year after the price rises in 2020? Millions of people on benefits or a low income can get £140 off their electricity bill through the UK's Warm Home Discount scheme. All the large electricity suppliers and some of the small ones offer this. 5 tips for applying for a Warm Home Discount if you are on Pension Credit you don't need to … [Read more...]

October 19, 2019 Author: Sara Williams

Piggy banking / the envelope method – how to budget better!

Piggy banks are not just the cute pig-shaped money jars for kids. Piggy banking is also a system of dividing your money into different ‘pots’, or accounts. It is also known as "jam jar accounting" or "the envelope method". Each pot represents a different aspect of your life you need money for. So, for example, you might have one account for your most important bills such as the mortgage or … [Read more...]

September 30, 2019 Author: Sara Williams Tagged With: Budgeting & Saving

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • …
  • 7
  • Next Page »

Subscribe to Debt Camel

Join the 7,000 people who receive an email when a new article is published:

Recent articles

Latest news round-up:  February 28th

  • Overdrafts – a hard type of debt to clear
  • Proposed DRO changes – a good start!
  • Amigo’s Scheme (2) – key points to think about

Help with your debts

Recommended places for debt advice

About Debt Camel

This is the personal website of Sara Williams.

More about Debt Camel.
Privacy policy
Comments Policy
Debt Camel on Twitter

 

Copyright © Debt Camel 2020