Last week the Insolvency Service released figures showing that debt relief orders are more prevalent among 25-34 year olds than any other age group.

These figures were released to launch a “Dealing with your debt” campaign by the Insolvency Service which “aims to help the young deal with their debt in the most appropriate and effective way”.
The campaign gained a lot of publicity, being featured on BBC News programmes across the country as well as regional radio stations. BBC used a case study to illustrate the issue, which you can view below:

I’m all for raising awareness about personal debt and the solutions available, but sadly from some of the comments I saw on twitter about this story, people were focusing on the notion that a debt relief order is an “easy” way to write off irresponsible spending, rather than looking at the real reasons why more and more young people are struggling with debt.

Here are some of the comments left on twitter:

I’m no expert on debt relief orders, however I have studied them as part of the training towards my CertDR qualification and one thing which stands out to me is the strict criteria required in order to apply for a one, including:

• Your total assets must not be more than £300.
• Your disposable income after deducting all normal living expenses, must not be more than £50 per month.

From my experiences here at ClearDebt, the reason most people find themselves in debt is because of a change in circumstances. They took on credit when they were in a secure position to pay it back, but then a job loss, an illness, a divorce, a pregnancy or some other life-changing event affected their ability to make the repayments.
There are of course some people who are in debt due to poor money management and a “buy now, pay later” attitude, but these are a minority and I don’t believe that any debt solution should be considered an “easy” option.

Stuck for activities that won’t break the bank this Christmas? I’ve put together some tips to help you find the best free and affordable events to keep you entertained this December.

Christmas is expensive enough with all the gift buying (read our Christmas Shopping tips here), but when you factor in activities and entertainment over the festive season; the costs just keep getting higher and higher. However, if you plan ahead and keep an eye out for special events, you could save yourself a lot of time and money! Here are my tips for seeking out the activities to suit your budget.

Start with your local council website

Your local council website should serve as a resource of useful information – including Christmas events. You will find links to local libraries and art galleries and be able to see what events they’re hosting over the Christmas period. If you’re not sure of the web address for your local council, you can do a search via this link on the direct.gov.uk website.

Shopping Centres aren’t all about shopping

The thought of visiting a shopping centre in the run up to Christmas might fill you with dread, but if you can find yourself a parking space and battle through all the shoppers you might find that there’s some free fun to be had! For example, local to me, Manchester’s Trafford Centre has some great free craft workshops on.
The best way to find out about any upcoming events is to sign up to the shopping centre’s email list or connect with them using social media by liking them on Facebook or following them on Twitter. This way you’ll be the first to know what’s happening and when.

Sign up for meal-deals direct to your inbox

As well as keeping your children entertained, you might also need to think about entertaining friends or family who have come to visit during the festive period. A great way to save on eating out is to sign up to discount websites such as Livingsocial and Groupon. These websites are free to join up to and will send you regular emails with restaurants offers so that your meals out don’t cost the earth.

You do need to be cautious though. Before buying a meal deal, check when the offer is valid from and which days of the week you can use it as most have restrictions on dates and times. It’s also worth checking the prices for any extra drinks or side orders as these can often make you meal suddenly seem not so reasonable.
Jacqueline Cohen, Marketing Manager at ClearDebt is a big fan of these sites, she explains,

After having a baby three years ago, we really cut back in my household and the need for nappies, childcare and more food in the house, far outweighed the opportunity to go out for dinner. With sites like Groupon, Living Social, Frugaloo and KGB, we now go out for dinner quite often – all for £25 or less – for the two of us! These sites are also great for Christmas and Birthday gifts so when the moneybox is running a little low in January, these sites will certainly lend a helping hand.

Plan a perfect night in

Celebrating the festive season doesn’t have to mean going out all the time. Personally when the winter weather kicks in I much prefer an evening in all snug and warm. This time of year there are always plenty of films to watch on TV, so pick one that you like and start planning a “movie night” around it. If movies on your TV at home just don’t compare to the cinema, there’s plenty of other fun you can have at home. Why not dig out your old board games and get some healthy competition going? Or if you’re more into video games set up a tournament between your friends.

What are your plans for the Christmas break?

We’d love to know how you’ll be spending the Christmas break, so tell us your plans and feel free to share any affordable events and activities you’ve come across.

It’s difficult not to get sucked into the commercial element of Christmas; the shops transform into winter wonderlands and seemingly ordinary items that you wouldn’t consider buying suddenly have an appeal thanks to the Christmas packaging. Here are some of our tips to help you enjoy the holiday season without hurting the bank balance.

Saving up for Christmas

At the start of January I blogged about a campaign the Office of Fair Trading launched to encourage people to save up for Christmas all throughout the year. I’m not sure how successful the campaign was, but I think we can all agree that saving is a great idea and if you didn’t manage to save this year then you might want to consider it for Christmas/New Year 2012/2013.

Okay, so it’s October now and if you haven’t managed to save up a sizeable amount of Christmas funds, then you can still be smart about your Christmas shopping with a little bit of planning and research.

Research your Christmas gift list online first

Online shopping can be a great way to make savings.  Lots of online stores can afford to sell items cheaper than on the high street because their overheads are lower. Having said that, there are still many of you who prefer to buy in person but that doesn’t mean online shopping sites can’t help you! Most high street stores have websites so you can compare the prices from one store to another and remember – price comparison websites aren’t just about insurance, some of them can also compare electrical items and other gifts.

Quick tip: type the name of the product you want to buy into Google and view “shopping results”.

Example: I typed in “Moshi Monsters Toy” and I was shown the following:

Make a shopping list

This might sound like an obvious tip but after you’ve done your research online you should then make a list of all the items you want to buy and where has the best price. Christmas is one of those times of the year when it’s easy to let your spending get out of control because you’re buying gifts for lots of different people and it can be hard to keep track of where you’re up to. Having a list will help you keep your focus and steer you in the right direction. In theory, a list should also stop you from buying things that you don’t need.

Look out for special offers and deals

Retailers are all competing to get you to spend in their stores and sometimes you can use this to your advantage. However not all “special offers” are great value. As I’ve mentioned above, make a list and stick to it but if you have something on your list which is available from a number of different retailers, then it’s worth looking out for “free gift” offers or bundles. Many of the big name make-up counter brands offer free gifts if you buy two items so if you’re stocking up on your favourite lipstick you could pick up a beauty gift absolutely free.

Another trend I’ve seen recently is video game bundles. I recently ordered a copy of the latest Batman video game and I managed to find a package that included the video game plus two DVDs of the recent Batman films – all for the same price as some other retailers were selling the game alone for!

Is a gift set better value for money?

This tip relates to the research element. A festively-packaged gift set can be very alluring and sometimes they can be great value for money. If you’re looking at a perfume gift set, check the price of the perfume on its own to make sure you’re not being ripped off. It’s also worth remembering that festive gift sets are often the first thing to be reduced in the sales. So if you don’t mind waiting until after Christmas Day, you could save even more.

Christmas and IVAs: Can I take a payment break in my IVA for Christmas?

Unfortunately for people in IVAs it is not usually permitted to grant payment breaks for Christmas. This is because by the terms of the IVA you cannot miss more than two payments without putting yourself in breach of the terms.  If you were to take a payment break each Christmas in your IVA this would total five months. Additionally if you were granted a payment break then you could be forced to increase your payments to make up any arrears, which in the longterm doesn’t seem quite worth it.  Remember, although you may like a payment break over Christmas, there may be a time in the future duration of your IVA where you need it more.

Share your Christmas Shopping Tips and win £100 vouchers

Do you have any Christmas shopping tips to share? Leave a comment below and we’ll be picking one lucky commenter to win an £100 shopping voucher to add to their Christmas shopping funds!

Update – A big thank you to all who left their Christmas shopping tips. We have chosen a winner at random and they have been notified.

The Office of Fair Trading released their new debt management guidance in June this year and debt management companies were invited to take part in a consultation process. One aspect of this guidance was the use of social media by debt management companies. It appeared that fee-charging debt management companies might be banned, by the OFT, from using Facebook, Twitter and, possibly, Google Adwords.

ClearDebt’s Andrew Smith has been quite outspoken on his disagreement with the idea that debt management companies could be banned from using social media and was quoted in the Telegraph last month saying:

What they are looking at are today’s methods of mass marketing, and they are not giving us the opportunity to compete. Also, they are limiting one of the best ways of exposing the cowboys. When cowboys turn up in our industry one of the best ways of exposing their lack of knowledge or experience is by debating with them on social media.

Here are some of the other reactions to this, as expressed through the social media channel Twitter, you can view the OFT’s response at the end of this blog post.

The deadline for submitting responses to the new debt management guidance was 5th September. You can read ClearDebt’s response here.
You can also follow Andrew Smith on Twitter @andrew_f_smith.

Since we wrote this article, the OFT have told us that there is no intention to ban debt resolution companies from using social networking, but that companies will have to be careful that statements they make will be clear and truthful. This seems right and fair, but we look forward to seeing the OFT’s detailed guidance on the issue – and will continue to watch the story, and comment, until then.

As a member of the Debt Resolution Forum, this year we were invited to nominate a member of our team for the title of “DRF Advisor of the Year 2011″. We had a lot of experienced advisors to choose from and after much consideration, we have selected Matthew Foley.

Here are some of the reasons why we have selected Matthew to represent ClearDebt at the 2011 DRF Awards and how you can vote for him as “DRF Advisor of the Year 2011″.

About Matthew

Matthew joined ClearDebt in 2008, originally dealing with repossessions; he quickly worked his way up to a debt advisor role.
In character, Matthew is unassuming, modest and always a model of professionalism. In addition to his reassuring and supportive approach when speaking to people in need of debt advice, Matthew is also a valued member within his team. He regularly assists his colleagues offering cover when they are away and advising their clients.

Professional Debt Qualifications

Matthew completed his CertDR (Certificate in Debt Resolution) qualification at the start of the year. This involved three individual modules which focused on different areas of the UK debt industry, from the historical context and legal regulations to studying each debt solution in detail and best practice guidelines for giving debt advice.

Matt undertook around 210 hours of study for this qualification and passed all three examinations with flying colours.

What people say about Matthew

Here are some comments from people Matthew has advised, as posted on the independent IVA review site IVA.com (click on the name of each reviewer to read the full review)

I spoke to Matt Foley at ClearDebt who outlined the benefits of an IVA and was very informative and helpful. The whole process was very easy and Matt was on hand at every step to answer any questions I had.

Duncan

Matt Foley was excellent to a point that our relationship became more personal than business like. For a company that must have thousands of clients its great that when I call him he knows exactly who I am from my voice!

Mr. Snaith

Fantastic. Very understanding, Matt Foley made me feel very much comfortable with the situation.

Fate

Matt Foley was amazing, very informative and explained things so I could understand.

Dorren

How you can vote for Matthew

The DRF awards panel will choose the winner of this award and will take into account a number of different criteria, including votes from clients. If you’ve spoken to Matthew and would like to vote for him you can do so by emailing the DRF Awards panel with the following information:

1) Name of the Advisor you are voting for.
2) Your name, contact details and reference number – these details will remain confidential and are only needed to verify your vote.
3) A short statement on why you think Matthew Foley deserves to be DRF Advisor of the year.

Email your votes to: awards@debtresolutionforum.org.uk

The deadline for voting is Friday 2nd September and the winner will be announced at the annual Debt Resolution Forum Conference which will be taking place on Tuesday 27th September 2011.