We all know that feeling of overspending and letting money slip through our fingers like water as we run up debt like it was going out of fashion.

Sometimes we spend frivolously; other times we are victims of circumstance such as a new baby in the family or unexpected repairs to the home which launch us on the slippery slope to financial ruin. The trouble is that we do not always realise until much later when the dreaded credit card statements arrive, that we have overspent and in serious debt.

Some people do not even open their bank statements and this is when the trouble really starts to kick in as that brand new designer dress, which really doesn’t feel as comfortable as it did in the store and became too much hassle to return has now put you over you limit and into higher interest hell.

Things become even worse if you lose your job and are left with credit card statements coming out of your ears. The worse thing about loans/credit cards is the fact that you lose your hard earned money in interest charges, which provide an easy income for a lender. This money should stay where it rightfully belongs, with you.

It is at this point that people start to become desperate and wonder if they could actually go to prison for their sins. The good news is that Newgate, which was the Victorian debtors gaol, is now closed. It closed around 1907 so you won’t be rushed off to the big house for not paying your mountain of debt.

The most sensible way to find some light from that burying effect of your debt mountain is to take responsibility and contact your creditors before they contact you. There is nothing that annoys a creditor more than a debtor who is constantly ducking and diving. Face up to your debt issues immediately and start working out a debt management plan so as you can approach creditors with payment proposals and remain credit worthy whilst you fight off those excess bills.