For months, we were trigger-swipe happy, putting our groceries,
clothes, holidays and service charges on our credit cards.
We wanted mortgages, we took out loans, we watched Property
Ladder and What Not To Wear. Whether you were born middle
class, had middle class aspirations, you became middle class
through your spending. Debt united people around the UK, we
sympathised with each other on what we couldn’t afford – but
it didn’t matter, we still bought it. Soon everybody had a
bottle of Jacob’s Creek in their kitchen and olives and humous
in the fridge.

Yet, it would seem as if a debt conscience is setting in.
This morning, The Guardian printed a story based on the fact
that Nationwide had reported a 0.2% decrease in the average
house price, whilst the Times reported on a statement from
the Bank of England, showing that credit-card borrowing was
at its slowest rate for more than four years, with mortgage
lending also very static.

According to the latest Department of Trade and Industry
Survey, 5% of individuals reported finding their household’s
debt repayments a “heavy burden” and 4% of individuals are
currently behind in payments for at least one credit commitment
or domestic bill over the past three months.

According to Credit Action, in December 2004, 1.2 million
electricity and 1 million gas domestic customers were behind
in repaying their debts to their supplier. Additionally 20%
of people say that they often neglect checking their bank
balance because “they are too scared to find out how much
money they have”, according to Lloyds TSB.

Credit Action also reported that the number of people searching
for help to manage their debts had almost doubled in May in
2005, compared to figures in May 2004 and a survey from Relate
revealed that 44% of couples find money to be a contentious
issue in their relationship and a quarter of people in debt
are receiving treatment for stress, depression and anxiety
from their GP.

It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom however. If you’re
lucky enough to have no outstanding debt, you can keep you
finances in shape by exploiting the services of sites such
as moneynet, which provide financial product price comparison
information and extensive consumer information guides. If you
have any outstanding debts, you can seek advice from the
Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) or Citizens’ Advice
and financial comparison sites like lowermybills and moneynet
also provide detailed research on debt consolidation loans
and debt management.