Sometimes keeping on top of your bills can be a nightmare. When the bills are high and there just isn’t enough money in the bank to pay them, it can be incredibly stressful.

Sometimes we think we are on top of our bills, and then an unexpected bill comes along and leaves us struggling for funds. You might not like the idea of not being able to pay your bills, but you are not alone. At some point or another, most people have got behind with a bill or two, so don’t worry.

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While it can be tempting to wallow, be proactive instead and start thinking about how you can get your finances back on track.

To help you get back on track with your bills, here are a few of our top tips:

Create a priority list

Sit down with the other people in the household and come up with a list of all the bills – put them in order of priority. Then work out how much you owe to each company when it needs to be paid by, and how urgent it is.

By coming up with a list of everything you owe, you will feel much calmer about the situation. Being able to see everything on paper will help you to get to grips with what you owe and what the next step should be.

Deal with tax

If you have managed to get behind on tax, that must be dealt with as a priority. Especially, as failure to pay tax can lead to a court summons, which obviously, isn’t what you want.

It might sound like taking a step backwards, but there are plenty of tax loans that could help you get back on track with your tax payments. As long as you go through a reputable company, getting a tax loan can be a great step to take.

Pick up the phone

Once you have created a list of all the bills you have to pay, the next step is to call each company and ask for help. You might not like the idea of admitting that financially you are struggling, but there is no need to be ashamed.

Don’t be afraid to explain to the companies, you owe money to what has happened. Believe it or not, most companies are very understanding. From the angry letters, you might think that when you call you will get shouted at, but the people who deal with debt, couldn’t be nicer.

Pay the bills off in small chunks

Don’t attempt to pay everything off at once. Otherwise, you will only end up getting yourself into more trouble. Most companies are happy for you to set up monthly payments of a small amount, just as long as you pay something; they don’t mind.

When you call each company you owe money to, ask them whether it would be okay to set up a monthly payment plan.

Although it can be scary when you haven’t got enough money to pay the bills, it’s important not to bury your head in the sand. Be proactive, come up with a list of bills that need paying and get organized. You will much better if you get all the bills straight.

Credit cards, to some people they are a gift and to others they are a curse. There aren’t many people out there in the world that don’t have at least one credit card in their wallet, and while not all of them have any credit card debt, some do.

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In this day and age, loans have become pretty essential. As a professional who makes enough for a comfortable living, I know that sometimes an emergency looms around the next corner and will really rustle up your funds if you aren’t prepared. On the other hand, there may be pricey things that you may want to purchase, where you are not comfortable enough to touch your savings.

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If you’re anything like me, a lot of the time politics will go a little over your head. It’s tricky to make a decision as to which party deserves your vote because they all promise the earth, so how do you know who can deliver?

To me, it all seems to hinge on who can do what with the UK budget. All us working people in the UK pay taxes, so we should, in theory, all care enough and make an effort to find our what our money is being spent on – after all, we have enough taken from our wages each month!

If you do decide to make the effort to research into what each party promises to prioritise and spend the budget on, you need to remember that they can’t please everyone all the time.

My girlfriend’s an English teacher in a large comprehensive school and she HATES the fact nearly every party promises to reduce class sizes and, every year, they’re just getting bigger in he school. But, in order to reduce class sizes, more money would nee to be pumped into every comprehensive school to employ more teachers. If the money is spent on more teachers, what are we cutting back on? Or should taxes be raised in order to achieve this?

That’s basically the type of questions the government has to ask all the time. It’s like an epic-scale juggling act!

Obviously, if you’re a party making a promise to spend more on the NHS, you’re going to have to spend less elsewhere – so where will you make a cutback?

Budgets are tricky things to get your head around on a small scale, but I’ve found this really great infographic from Buddy Loans that gives a simple but thorough breakdown of where the UK budget goes – might make it a little easier to understand each party’s priorities!

Anyone that has  felt the  debts  creeping up had  probably looked into debt consolidation; even if  they  didn’t  know  that  was  what they  were doing  when  they  were  looking  around  for  loans. Before  we get  into  this article  it is probably a good idea to define what debt consolidation is and what it isn’t.

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In budgeting terms, the cost of car purchases must be viewed in two distinct ways. Not only should the purchase price and financing terms be carefully considered, but the ongoing monthly cost of motoring must also be factored-in, as a share of your total household income. According to data recently compiled by the Office of National Statistics, each motorist spends about 55 weekly, to stay on the road. The figure does not include insurance, which pushes the real cost of motoring toward 70 per week, on average.

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