Your credit report - what is it and what does it contain? Many of you will have, at some point, applied for a loan, credit of some sort or a credit card.  Its usually at that point that the money lender you have chosen to approach to arrange credit will go to one of the leading credit scoring companies such as Experian or Equifax to find out what your credit rating is like.

To explain in layman's terms, credit and whether or not to grant a credit facility is worked out on a scoring system individual to each lender.  This system is used to determine if you are a low or high risk borrower and if you are likely to be at risk of defaulting and not making repayments. The better you have been historically at paying your bills, paying back any loans you may have had and generally paying anything granted on a credit basis in  timely fashion, the higher your credit score will be.  Conversely, if you have defaulted on your mortgage repayments, not paid your water bill and are behind with your mobile phone payments your credit rating is very likely to be low and you will find it very unlikely that you will be offered a loan or any form of credit.   It is the lenders job, be they a bank, credit card company or loan company, to lend money responsibly so the lower your credit score the less likely they are to grant credit facilities. One of the myth's of the credit scoring system is that everyone has an individual rating and there is a magical number that once you get past, you will be granted credit. That actually isn't true, companies will individually lend you money if they want to, they will simply use your credit rating as a guideline.  So it stands to reason that the better it is, the more credit worthy you will seem.

Any time you try to buy something on a 'buy it now' and 'pay September' kind of deal or you approach a loan company to borrow money, more likely if its an unsecured loan by the way, you can pretty much guarantee that your credit file will have been examined for any hint of irresponsible borrowing behaviors.  The bad thing is that, every time a company makes a search for your credit score, it leaves a footprint.  If credit is refused, although other lenders don't know that, it increases the chances that it will be refused again if you have lots and lots of applications and searches on your file. It very much pays to not only be selective when looking to buy something on credit or borrow some money but to make sure that historically you have made the payments you should have been.

One of the best things you can do is get an up to date idea as to what your credit rating or credit score is today.  It saves a lot of time and hassle and will stop you making unnecessary applications to loan companies, etc if they are going to be poorly received, therefore leaving yet another application or 'footprint' on your file. A few of the companies out there will offer a free thirty day trial in which you can receive a copy of your credit file.  Take a look on the web and get a credit report done today - it could be one of the most useful things financially that you will do.

Saving money isn't the easiest thing to do when you have a family, mounting debt and bills to pay and although I am by no means some sort of money saving expert, I am however savvy enough to realize that making cutbacks and paring back on unnecessary spending is one of the most helpful things you can do if you have money problems. Now unless you are a Banker or Politician I would think that almost everyone, within reason will have some sort of money issues whether its not being able to find an extra 10k to get the next buy to let property or more likely, not being able to find enough money to cover all the bills at the end of the month out of a decreasing pay packet.

Its a sad fact that between the state of the economy and the necessity for food, electric, water, heating, etc, etc British households are becoming more and more reliant on finding ways to save money in order to get by, whether thats by making cutbacks on luxuries such as smoking and eating out or absolute requirements such as electricity and water.  If you are in any way having issues making payments at the end of the month then you need to be taking  look at on what and where you can make cutbacks and save money, even if its just a few pounds.  How does the old saying go -"look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves"

Utilities:
Since the privatization of the energy industry in 1996 the market has opened up , offering the consumer more choices when it comes to picking their energy supplier.  In terms of saving money, changing supplier doesn't save you a fortune but any savings made when you are in financial difficulty are a godsend. The type of saving made, although not huge can still be as much as 150GBP a year. Comparison sites such as www.uswitchcom are the best choice when looking to compare energy companies.  They also offer the chance to sign up through the site, a one stop shop, as it were.

Water:
The next thing to look at when making considerations on where to save money, would be the water bill.  Water bills are one of the largest a household can expect so if you can make savings somewhere, it can most definitely be appreciated.  One of the ways to do this is to get a water meter fixed although the rule of thumb when checking if it would be a viable saving is, if there are more bedrooms in your property than people its worth looking into.  With a water meter you are literally just paying for the amount of water used rather than paying a standing charge based on the 'rateable value' of the property and it is surprising how much can be saved for some households, between 58GBP and 104GBP in some cases.

Telephone and broadband:
Almost every modern household now has a telephone line, if not for the telephone itself then for broadband usage.  Its the same as everything, its worth shopping around to get the best deal.  Companies are fighting for your custom out there and they are jumping all over each other to offer the cheapest, fastest and best value deals.  There are packages that can be tailored to your individual usage dependent on which you use more of and its worthwhile taking a look at your quarterly bill to see if it cheaper to pay by direct debit say, or whether it would be better to switch from one provider to another.  The actual switching process is painless and quick now and what you might find is that your current company offer you a more competitive package to retain your custom, therefore saving you some money in any case.

These are just three of the things to consider that could save you up to 300GBP or more a year in some cases.  Any savings you can make when experiencing debt issues or money problems are not to be sniffed at and 300GBP a year is not by any means, a drop in the ocean and is money that could be used elsewhere or even saved.

Now, given that this site, at this stage, is kind of devoted to those of us out there with a less than whiter than white credit rating, it stands to reason that the only credit cards that would be worthwhile discussing would be those suited for consumers with a poor credit score. The ideal situation obviously is one where everyone can secure a platinum Visa or Mastercard but unfortunately with the economic situation being blamed on the easy availability of credit and the lenders propensity, until last year, to lend money to anyone with a belt to keep their trousers up rather than a piece of string, we can safely say that the days of freely available credit and loans are over, at least for now.

The view of the lenders is that everyone should of course be able to have credit, within reason, a profitable way of thinking to be sure. There are credit card options out there for those with a slightly tarnished credit rating and they are usually typified by a reduced amount initially available and a slightly higher interest rate than usual.  To be fair, these product are often a godsend and in some cases the only way to retrieve a credit score that is heading down the pan.  To give two of the more well known examples, cards such as the Capital One Classic or the Vanquis Visa provide credit facilities to consumers with poor credit, little or no credit history and even students and new migrants to the UK.  With interest rates at 34.9% APR for the Classic and 39.9% for the Vanquis they offer a way to rebuild your credit score.  Starting out at a low level of credit, say 250GBP and rising up to 2500GBP, as long as the repayments to the loan are made, these credit cards will go a long way to resurrecting your credit rating.  The key to both of these cards is to be very strict with your finances.  Some might say that this is a bad idea, as it was probably a less than firm grip on your monetary situation that got you a poor credit score in the first place, however, if you are unable to get credit elsewhere and you are really dedicated to making the repayments, these cards really are a good idea and for those who need credit, almost everyone in my view, you will be able to watch your credit score begin to improve.

I would suggest making a visit to a good comparison site and marking up the pro's and con's of the credit cards available to you.  Make an informed decision, be clear on all the terms and conditions and finally, the most important, make the repayments.

How many of you out there have had those end of month emergency cash-flow situations arise, usually at the worst time possible?  I'd like to bet that many of you reading this, at some point in time, have had an unexpected bill come in, a car breaking down or an unexpected accident.  There is however a product available out there that can assist on those occasions when cash is a  little tight and the bills mount up. Payday loans or cash advance loans are usually thought of as the poor mans choice when it comes to borrowing money, a bad credit loan.   Yes, these cash loans do cater for the less fortunate of us that have poor credit scores and consumers that would probably have difficulty securing short term loans with blue chip or prime lenders but they can also be a very good way of managing immediate cash-flow problems.

The payday loan or instant cash advance is designed to be a short term solution to a problem.  Usually approved within 24 hours, secured over a 30 day period or less and with the option of a rollover by paying the interest accrued, they offer a quick cash loan, often from 100GBP to 1500GBP with no requirement of faxing documents. For those with a poor, or perhaps less than ideal credit score, payday loans can be a fantastic way of securing quick cash at reasonable rates of interest, as the criteria for borrowing can be a lot less stringent than the banks or major credit card providers.  As long as you are over 18, there is a regular income over a certain amount, a bank account with a direct debit facility and in a few cases, some form of identification, you can be pretty much assured that you will be able to secure some sort of quick cash payday loan facility.  Of course, this also means that the interest repayments will be a little higher than other lenders but then there are no invasive interviews, minimal hassle and no detrimental credit checks.

So, are payday loans and cash advances a good idea?  If used correctly and as they are designed, as a quick and easy way to secure a cash advance until payday, they can be a great way to manage short term cash-flow issues.  If you are gainfully employed with a monthly or weekly paycheck there shouldn't be any problem.  The repayments are taken by direct debit, leaving you with nothing to worry about and there is even the facility to just repay the interest, rolling over the initial cash advance or payday loan until you are better situated to pay it back. There are numerous payday loan companies online offering this short term, bad credit loan facility so check some out, compare and choose the best for you.

Payday loans, a good, effective way to borrow relatively small amounts of cash quickly, with no credit checks and no faxed documents and even if you have a bad credit rating they can provide a short term instant cash advance when its most needed.  Definitely a good idea for some.

To manage debt efficiently one should firstly look at all the underlying lifestyle causes rather than just attempting to treat the symptoms, as it were. look at what caused the problem in the first place and take steps to address that rather then just try and get out of it when you're already up to your neck in it. How did you get yourself in debt in the first place, how did you manage to spend above your means and end up in a situation where you are now paying back probably a huge amount of what is essentially non disposable income, on a monthly basis?

If you're anything like myself then the cause wasn't really overspending or living a lifestyle that far outweighed my means. I wasn't driving around in a ferrari or spending money like water at casino's or lapdancing clubs. It was simply a case of trying to live in a normal fashion and trying to pay bills, pay for general living expenses and manage a normal life. It wasn't helped by working for three years in a job that didn't really pay what it should have done however but that isn't really any kind of excuse. you budget to live within your means, so how does it happen?

Debt problems can creep up on the best of us and for those of us that don't keep as tight a rein on our money as a parliament bookkeeper, crippling debt can catch up with us faster than you can say IVA.

The first thing I did was sat down and got out the income and expenditure form. Its vital to take an honest look at what you have coming in, what you have going out and what is essential and non essential. You'll be surprised at what you can do without when you have to! The second thing was not to hide my head in the sand. Its important that you contact your creditors and offer some sort of repayment, most are glad of the contact and will be happy to accept some sort of repayment however small. Otherwise the debt can spiral and get worse and worse and can eventually end up in court. If you have difficulty doing this yourself then approach a professional body. Organizations such as the citizens advice bureau, consumer credit counselling service or the insolvency helpline can all help with free and impartial advice and assistance.

Debt doesn't have to be the end of the world. It can be frightening and in some cases can affect your health and well being. It does however need to be dealt with and however you got in the situation in the first place, take a look at your lifestyle, spending and habits and try to make cutbacks where you can. It will all help.