Looking to get into debt fast? Finding there isn’t quite enough pressure on your finances? Keen to get some more stress into your life? Probably not. Why then, do so many of us continue to make the same spending mistakes that are sure-fire ways to bring about a bad debt problem? Luckily, Debtsolver are on hand to flag up these top five steps towards bad debt. So, if you recognise your spending habits in there, you too could be headed for debt.

1. Do you spend more than you earn? This is the most straight forward route into debt and the one taken by most people. Although it might sound like an exercise in irresponsibility, this can be a relatively easy habit to fall into, particularly if your financial circumstances change. If your ability to work is limited, you are forced to cut down on the number of hours you work or are made redundant, your outgoings will not necessarily be able to immediately adapt to this change in circumstances.

2. Leading on from point 1, if you’ve been spending more than you earn, you’ve essentially been spending money that you don’t have. You are able to spend money you don’t have by using your credit cards, store cards and taking out loans. Falling into the habit of using these means to meet other credit repayments is a downward spiral to a severe debt problem. Even for those who are confident that a buy now, pay later approach is well within their means, a change of financial circumstances can soon land you in debt difficulty.

3. If you find that you’re getting into the habit of using credit to make your usual, day to day purchases, the interest applied can mean you’re paying over the odds for your goods. You should definitely try to stick to cash for these things. Obviously, using your credit cards is all about paying later for the things that you want now. However, it’s much harder to stay motivated and committed to a repayment plan when you’ve already consumed or used the ordinary, boring things that you’ve bought. It’s too easy to then just pay the minimum on your credit card, rather than pay it off each month. Then the purchases will definitely end up costing you more.

4. Similarly, if using your credit card still gives you the sense of getting something for nothing, you’re edging ever closer to a serious debt problem. What makes you think that you’ll all of a sudden want to pay for something more once it’s no longer so new and the shine’s gone off it? Using your credit card to make purchases when you actually have the cash is a mistake and if you want to avoid debt.

5. Taking on more credit to pay off your existing debt is the last in our list of steps towards a really serious debt problem. The first thing wrong with that concept is the idea that you’re actually paying anything off. All this achieves is shuffling debt around. Chances are that you’ll be picking up more debt as this goes on and your financial situation will be getting harder to solve. Free balance transfers can be a good idea for those that can afford to pay off the outstanding balance before any 0% period ends. It’s important to remember that the debt consolidation loan, although another form of credit, is not in the same category. It is debt solutions which helps a lot of people deal with their mounting debt problem and regain control of their finances.

If your idea of using the internet to save you money means socialising in a chat-room rather than in the pub, or the occasional search for vouchers, you’ll be surprised to hear just how much money-saving potential there is in cyberspace. Not only that, if used to its full potential, the internet can be just as good at making you money as it is at saving you money. Of course, there is no denying that the internet is particularly good at encouraging you to spend money too. So, with the help of the debt specialists at Debtsolver, you can take control of your online spending and begin getting the best return on your digital spend.

Firstly, there is no shortage of companies willing to offer incentives like vouchers and reductions for your participation in online surveys. Don’t buy things that you don’t need because they seem like a good deal though. Unnecessary spending is still just as unnecessary when you’re getting a deal. However, if it’s a product that you’d buy anyway, saving a few pounds here and there can soon add up.

Here are five survey sites that give you a financial reward for participation.

• Test and Vote – Test products and be awarded points that can be redeemed for vouchers.
• Synovate – Complete surveys for entry into prize draws and points redeemable for cash.
• Lightspeed UK – Various surveys that are rewarded with points and prize draw entries.
• The Great UK Survey – A 5 minute survey is rewarded with a £5000 competition entry.
• Valued Opinions – Build up real cash for your opinions, redeemable when you reach £10.

If you’ve got the time to scour the internet for potential bargains and take part in surveys that promise vouchers and rewards for participation, it’s easy to forget that the web offers far more tangible money making opportunities. Although being a serious savings hunter can seem like a full-time job, it isn’t. When it comes to real-life, actual job seeking, the net can be a valuable resource.

The major source of debt problems is not irresponsible spending but an unforeseen change in financial circumstances. Typically, this is losing your job. So, getting debt help, getting back on the job market and bargain hunting should be the first steps towards beating the debt burden for anyone out of employment.

Maintaining this focus on the digital world as a source of revenue, don’t forget to incorporate it into your real-life money making plans. If you’re looking around at all of those things you don’t really need and thinking about biting the bullet and doing a car boot sale, consider eBay and Amazon Marketplace too. They’re great places to offload your unwanted books, videos, CDs and lots of other things too.

So, there are lots of ways that the internet can help you to save money, or even make a bit more money, in order to lessen your debt burden. The first one though, should be to get specialist debt help from the advisors at Debtsolver.

Your debt-to-income ratio is basically an expression of the relationship between how much you owe and how much you earn. Lenders will use your debt-to-income ratio, alongside your overall credit rating, to evaluate your financial situation and decide if you qualify for credit. The ratio is determined by dividing all of your monthly debt repayments by your income. Generally speaking, the lower the ratio, the better your financial situation and the greater chance of securing credit.

If you have a clear understanding of your debt-to-income ratio, it’ll help you take stock of your financial situation, which will help you decide whether or not you should be considering further credit or debt help. If your debt-to-income ratio is high, you should definitely be taking significant steps to solve your mounting debt problem. Essentially, calculating your ratio leaves you in little doubt as to your financial situation. There is no denying the debt anymore and the sooner you face up to your debt, the greater the likelihood of finding a suitable debt solution for someone in your circumstances.

As much as calculating you debt-to-income ratio can serve as a wakeup call to the severity of your mounting debt, it can also be a great way to stay motivated and keep you on the right track. If you keep doing the calculations as you stick to a programme of debt repayment or successfully follow through with a debt solution, you can track your progress and keep your morale up.

Debtsolver, the UK debt solution specialist and financial first-aider, have complied these easy to follow steps that will help you to calculate your debt-to-income ratio.

Firstly, add up all of your monthly debt obligations. That means all of them; this is no time for self delusion.  Be sure to include all of your credit card debt; every loan, the unsecured and secured; your monthly mortgage repayments and your overdraft. If you rent rather than own, you should incorporate your rent in the same way as you would a mortgage at this stage. Basically, you want to find your bottom line debt commitment.

Now that you have your definitive monthly debt obligation worked out, divide it by your monthly income to work out your debt-to-income ratio. Debtsolver recommend using your net income rather than your gross income as everyone has to pay tax on their gross income. If you use your gross income, your debt-to-income ratio will appear more healthy than it actually is.

In the same way as your credit rating will impact on your ability to secure credit and influence the rates of interest that you’re offered, the higher your debt-to-income ratio, the less likely you are to be approved for credit and the higher interest rates you’re likely to be charged. You could also find that you’re asked to make a far bigger down payment in order to secure a mortgage.

If you are looking to tackle a debilitating debt burden, Debtsolver will be able to take you through the various debt solutions on the market in the UK and help you to decide on the one that best suits your circumstances. You will then be on the road to freedom from debt and will be able to chart your progress by calculating your debt-to-income ratio.

In the UK, deductions from your self-assessment tax return can amount to substantial savings. These savings can help you to battle debt problems and can amount to a welcome tax rebate at a time of year when funds are notoriously tight. It can be difficult to know what you can discount as a business expense and what you can’t though. For inspiration, here are some real examples from our cousins across the pond, courtesy of Debtsolver.

Firstly, the top ten successful tax reductions…

1. The owner of a petrol station gave away free beer instead of trading stamps and the Tax Man felt that this is a legitimate business expense.
2. An “exotic dancer” had her chest enlarged to a 56-FF and as a stage prop essential to her act, they were tax deductible.
3. Your babysitter can be a charitable deduction, if you employ her to look after your children while you are off doing charitable works in the community.
4. Necessary business trips are tax deductible but the owners of a dairy business did manage to write off their Safari because a lot of the activities had an animal focus.
5. Pets are considered personal effects so if your job requires a move, transport for your furred, feathered or finned friend is deductible.
6. Hold a business meeting in Bermuda and it can be written off. Same with Barbados, Costa Rica, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago, Canada and Mexico… If you’re from the U.S.
7. If you’re a professional bodybuilder, you can write off all of that essential body oil. Glistening muscles can be a genuine tax write-off.
8. For a couple who rent out a holiday home, having their own jet is a fully deductible expense as they have to go and check on it occasionally.
9. A nightclub promoter hired a few leggy lovelies for a launch and the tax man allowed him to write them off as decoration.
10. When a man was told to get more exercise, he felt swimming was a good option. So, he installed a pool and was able to deduct it from his tax as a necessary medical expense, including its heating, cleaning and general upkeep.

If those passed, what were the unsuccessful claims? Here are the top 5 that weren’t so lucky.

1. A man tried to deduct whiskey as a client gift but the category he chose was client entertainment, it wasn’t allowed and it violated state laws.
2. The owner of a failing furniture business hired someone to burn it down, not only to collect the $500,000 insurance money but also to deduct the $10,000 expense of hiring the arsonist.
3. You can’t deduct expenses of illegal professions. Sounds obvious? Well, tell that to the prostitutes that try to deduct the cost of condoms.
4. If you buy your own prize-winning racehorse, name it after yourself and then take clients to watch it run, it’s not a business expense, it’s a personal expense.
5. Even though we’ve heard that someone deducted a pool as a medical expense, taking dance lessons doesn’t count. So, dancing to relive varicose veins, dancing to cure arthritis and dancing to alleviate nervous disorders just won’t cut it.

When it comes to trading and investment, the focus is very much on the balance between risk and reward. Long shots can pay off big but they can also leave you in serious debt danger. With this slightly ominous sentiment still ringing in your ears, here are some pretty out-there investment options that the debt specialists at Debtsolver would definitely recommend that you treat with real trepidation. In fact, these fringe markets are probably best left well alone.

Freight derivatives are a relatively popular fringe trade. The Baltic Exchange offers trading on Forward Freight Agreements (FFAs). Basically, one trader bets another about how much it’ll cost to transport something in the future. For example, how much it’ll cost to ship crude oil from Shanghai to Rotterdam on the 25^th of February, 2015. You bet, wait until the day arrives and check the daily shipping rates as displayed by the Baltic Exchange. Companies will tend to do this to hedge against rising oil and geopolitical risks to shipping. It’s a risky business.

Betting on the weather is not something to be recommended but so great is its impact on business that there are those who do. We’re not talking about the odds on a sunny weekend either. It’s about the average over time, divided into ranges and packaged up for trade. A warm winter will affect power company revenue by decreasing fuel demand. They’ll often hedge against this by buying a contract that’ll pay out if the temperature averages at five degrees above the historical average for the winter.

European businesses that produce carbon dioxide as a side effect of their business activity are afforded an allowance of carbon credit. Should they go over this allowance, they have to buy more carbon credits to make up for it. North America is beginning to test out similar programmes now but European-based carbon futures can already be traded. The value of carbon credits depend on environmental legislation, geopolitical issues and the price of fossil fuels like crude oil and natural gas.

Think you can pick out the Oscar winners and summer blockbusters? The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is investigating whether investors should be able to buy and sell futures based on how much money a film will take in its first month. It’ll be a bit like the Hollywood Stock Exchange and buying futures will be based on picking surprise hits and selling futures will be based on picking out the unforeseen failures. Big-time financiers, producers and distributors will attempt to hedge the millions they’ve already invested with this kind of future trading.

Investments are a notoriously unpredictable and volatile market to start with and these fringe markets really are only for those traders with huge bankrolls and a keen understanding of the risks. They call for hugely specialised knowledge of the market and substantial investor credentials. They are showing growth though, with vast sums of money passing through them annually. As we said at the beginning, with the potentially huge rewards comes massive risk and it can all turn to crippling debt in no time. Don’t manage your debt with long shots. Talk to a dependable debt specialist like those at Debtsolver and free yourself from the burden of bad debt.