The recession has had an effect on everyone but it seems that families on low incomes have been hit the hardest. Households earning between £13,500 and £25,800 a year spend 41% of their income on essentials such as food and fuel, which have risen considerably in price. Due to the rise in essential expenditure and no change in the household income or in many cases a drop in household income, many people who fall within the low income category are finding it increasingly difficult to keep up with the repayments on their unsecured and secured debts and are seeking debt help advice.

In many cases people who fall within the low income category are facing debt problems for the first time, they may have been in a job with a salary that allowed them to comfortably be able to afford their credit card debts and essential expenditure without struggling but due to redundancy, a pay cut or a loss of hours they are no longer able to keep up with the repayments but don’t know what to do as they have never had to face debt problems before.

At first people in this situation may put sorting out their unsecured debts and seeking advice on debt as last on their list of priorities and just concentrate on being able to afford their essential expenditure, leisure activities or unnecessary clothing because this is the lifestyle they have become accustomed to and find it hard to accept they are no longer able to afford such luxuries.

The best thing to do rather than jumping in at the deep end and thinking your only option is to go bankrupt, is to seek debt help online or advice on debt through a free debt help line who will be able to talk you through the options available and recommend the best route out of debt as well as offer debt management help. Through a debt management plan your income and expenditure will be taken into consideration when determining what disposable income is available to pay towards your creditors. This will ensure that you are able to afford your essential expenditure, as well as repayments on your unsecured debts.