A Guide to Debt Management

I'm looking for a 20-25 page guide on how to determine if you're currently in debt and what options there are open to you to solve it.

The guide needs to be written in an informal and informative manner, minimising jargon (except for those keywords that will be required for Site optimization - these will be provided to you by me once bidding is complete).

The spec below is a rough guide, if you have a better suggestion on how to structure the info and what to include and what to leave out, I'm open to suggestion. I'd prefer someone with previous debt management experience or at least having written about the subject in some depth as the content needs to be as credible and authoritative as possible.

Spec follows:

- Is Debt always bad? (1 page)

Elaboration of not all debt being bad. Without it, most of us wouldn%u2019t be able to afford our houses and most business ventures wouldn%u2019t take off the ground. If it%u2019s taken in a carefully considered fashion, debt can be constructive thing etc. Debt isn%u2019t always a dirty word! << elaborate >>

- Kinds of Debt (1 page)

Explanation of different kinds of debt from those that are secured against your home to unsecured personal loans and credit card debts %u2013 including the other side : loan sharks and door step lenders << elaborate >>

Explanation of how these debts can be accumulated and consequences of not paying them. E.g loss of job, over extending yourself on the mortgage, banking on constantly increasing house prices and remortgaging, not keeping track of what%u2019s spent where. << elaborate >>

Debt can lead to consequences such as: loss of utility services, no further loans made available due to bad credit rating or worse still, loss of your home etc. << elaborate..possibly with real life examples? >>

<< elaborate each of the following points >>

1. How do you know you%u2019re in trouble? Practical techniques for determining if debt is getting on top of you. (1 page)

2. When and how do the bailiffs get involved? (1 page)
3. How has the credit crunch made life worse for those in debt (1 page)

4. Who can you turn to?

Who are the best people to go to for help? Specialist agencies or direct to the lenders? What does debt counselling offer that the above don%u2019t? (1 page)

5. What%u2019s a credit reference and what is it for? How is it determined? How can you find yours out? (1 page)

Detailed exploration of debt reduction/management strategies including pros and cons of each (also including the effect on your credit rating):

- Negotiating restructured payments to a more manageable level with your lender (1 pg)
- Refinancing (1 pg)
- Loan consolidation (including credit/shop card consolidation) (1 pg)
- Transferring partial or total debt to another credit card (1 pg)
- House buy back schemes (1 pg)
- IVAs (1 pg)
- Bankruptcies (1 pg)
- Govt relief available? (1pg)

<< Elaboration on other options >>

6. Steps to control debt in the future: (2-3 pages)

- Lifestyle Changes:
- Forget keeping up with the joneses %u2013 avoid over extending yourself to get the latest things
- A sensible credit card strategy..maybe just opt for a debit card and only spend what you have?
- No more shop cards at extortionate rates%u2026make sure you know what e.g. APR is and how its calculated to get an idea of what the consequence of it is (give examples)
How do you repair your tarnished credit rating?(1 pg)

<< Elaboration on other suggestions >>

End of Spec