Get rid of debt

How you know you could be in trouble

How do you know if you’re heading for credit trouble? Here are some warning signs.

• You depend on inconsistent, unpredictable income such as overtime or an extra, part-time job to pay your bills, or you're always looking for extra cash by selling goods to pay your debts
• Your expenses exceed your income and you run out of money before the end of the month
• You borrow money from family members and friends to get through the month or pay your bills
• You're repeatedly at or near the maximum credit limits on your credit or store cards, and other credit 
• You often struggle to make the minimum payments on any of your credit agreements
• You regularly miss payments and keep falling further behind every month
• You can’t save or need to take money from your savings to pay bills
• You take more credit to pay off other credit and to make ends meet

What you can do

Be proactive. These steps can help you when you find yourself in financial trouble and can’t make your loan repayments.

• Contact your credit providers to make a payment arrangement, or to reschedule or consolidate your credit
• Stop increasing your debt. Close unnecessary accounts and limit yourself to only one or 2 important ones
• List all your credit. Prioritise paying off debt that's close to being paid off first, or credit with the highest interest rate, or accounts where legal action is being taken against you 
• Use our cellphone app to view your transaction history and start tracking your expenses. Keep a record of all money that goes in and out of your accounts. Identify areas where you overspend and reduce those expenses. Cut any spending on luxury items
• Once you’ve paid off one account, use the money you now have available to pay off other debt
• Add income by selling anything you don’t need. If you can, use your hobby to make extra cash
• Get a credit health check-up. Once a year you can get a free credit report from one of the credit bureaus
• Look at your insurance products to see where you can switch to a cheaper option. Use the money you save to help pay off your debts