Posted July 24th, 2011
by Keira Browne
With public spending being cut and record levels of both unemployment and debt, the outlook for a large number of families in the UK is bleak. Many are forced to drink an unpalatable cocktail of financial insecurity and economic difficulty leading to some very difficult choices needing to be made within their household budgets.
With a little common sense and forward planning, many items of essential expenditure can be significantly reduced to save money and to alleviate the need to sacrifice the better things in life (which aren’t always free despite what the proverb says).
Consider which supermarket is cheapest for like for like shopping, buy own brands, plan meals in advance and look for special offers. Read our blog about how to manage your food budget for more tips on this.
Shop around. D
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Posted in Debt Consolidation
Posted July 22nd, 2011
by Keira Browne
This week, in response to government proposals, R3 the Association of Business Recovery Professionals, called for a rise in the current bankruptcy petition thresholds.
Currently the level of debt that a creditor can seek a bankruptcy order on an individual is £750.
R3 are calling on the government to consider raising this threshold to £3,000.
Relative to the current levels of secured and unsecured debt in the UK, £750 is a very low proportion that will allow banrkuptcy orders to be initiated by creditors.
Business Minister, Edward Davey commented:
to threaten someone with bankruptcy for such a small amount is disproportionate.
So the question is, at what level should the threshold be set?
We have already started debate on the subject with insolvency professionals.
When considering your answer you could take into account the following thoughts from ClearDebts Andrew Smith:
The idea of a threshold at which a creditor can initiatie bankruptcy proceedings against(a debtor is to strike a balance between what is a reasonable sum of money for a creditor to start a process which will have drastic effects on the debtors life and a level beneath which this threat is less of an effective recovery mechanism and more an opportunity to harass the debtor and persuade him to pay the creditor back, whatever his other financial woes.
In 1986, when the current limit came in it was set at £750 an equivalent value now would be around £1,700. But, th
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Tags: Bankruptcy Petition, Bankruptcy Petition Thresholds, Petition Thresholds, Thresholds Posted in Debt Consolidation
Posted July 21st, 2011
by Keira Browne
Gold hit its all-time high $1,594 an ounce, taking silver up to $39 an ounce. While some economists in the United States doubt that the gold price is going to continue to climb and that the gold bubble is going to burst any time soon, economic news channels around the world are considering gold to hit $5000 an ounce as a possibility. Peter Hambro, chairman of Britains biggest pure gold listing Petropavlovsk says the possibility of a QE3 will eventually drive gold up to $5000 an ounce, It is very scary: the flight to gold is accelerating at a faster and faster speed.
One of the big US banks texted me today to say that if QE3 actually happens, we could see gold at $5,000 and silver at $1,000.
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Tags: Silver Posted in Debt Consolidation
Posted July 19th, 2011
by Keira Browne
While it might be hard to look at your current situation with a positive attitude there is a good opportunity for you to learn from this and ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
By following positive steps towards reducing your debt and understanding why you got in debt in the first place you will know precisely how it happened and what to do to avoid it happening again.
You will have a better understanding of the things that you need to enjoy a happy and fulfilling life and those things that you might want but not need that can cause financial turmoil and all the stress that goes with debt levels you can’t handle.
You will learn how to budget and have total control over your finances and know when you can and can’t buy those luxury items.
You will also learn a lot about time management and that will enhance all aspects of your life as you will be able to work less, make more money and have more time with good time management.
One of the most important things that you will learn is having control over your life. This
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Tags: Situation Posted in Debt Consolidation
Posted July 17th, 2011
by Keira Browne
Goldprice hit its all time high at $1603 an ounce. Silver rose 3.3% its highest price since early May 2011. Economists say that the rush into precious metals is due to the political debate that took place over whether or not to raise the US debt ceiling. But most of all, investors remain worried about the debt and banking problems in the Eurozone.
Last Friday 15 July 2011, test results held by the European Banking Authority came out. The report stated that 8 out of 90 banks in Europe failed the test with combined shortfall of 2.5 billion euros. These 8 banks consists of 2 banks in Greece, 5 banks in Spain and 1 in Austria. A further 16 banks show a core Tier 1 in the range of 5-6%. The result actually shows up better than what the market has initially expected. However, it is still not enough to regain investors confidence on the Eurozones banking system.
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Tags: 2011 Posted in Debt Consolidation