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Check your spending - it's a matter of life and debt

7 January 2008

The Church of England has compiled a Post Christmas Debt Check for consumers worried about how much their wallets have been hit by Christmas and New Year spending. It has also published a range of prayers for people living with debt.

Coming at a time when 18 per cent of adults in the UK have £10,000 or more of unsecured debt*, the release of the 10-point checklist coincides with the launch of a new section of the Church of England website, called Matter of Life and Debt, dedicated to helping people escape from debt problems - and containing sound advice, real-life case studies, useful resources, and helpful prayers.

“If a household can say ‘yes’ to any of the statements on the checklist, it may be on the verge of encountering serious debt issues, and should carefully consider taking some of the advice included in the pages of Matter of Life and Debt,” says the Church of England’s National Stewardship and Resources Officer, John Preston, who put together the Post Christmas Debt Check, and co-authored Matter of Life and Debt.

“If a household can say ‘yes’ to three or more of the warning signs,” he continues, “it would be well advised to talk to a debt counselling service, such as the ones we link to online.”

Designed to make consumers think again about how much they spend, the Post Christmas Debt Check includes checklist items such as ‘this month you will need to use one credit card to pay off another card’ and ‘you often feel anxious about money, in particular, how much you owe’.

It can be accessed online as a pdf file on the Matter of Life and Debt pages, at www.cofe.anglican.org/debt.


Post Christmas Debt Check - tick as appropriate

1) You need to get an extra credit card or to increase the spending limit on your current credit cards…

2) You tried to get a higher credit limit on your cards recently, and have had your application turned down…

3) You will only be able to pay the minimum on your credit cards this month…

4) This month you will need to use one credit card to pay off another card…

5) You can’t face adding up your total debt, because it scares you…

6) You are keeping the cost of Christmas, or your total debts, hidden from your partner or your family…

7) You often feel anxious about money, in particular, how much you owe…

8) You used to have savings, but they’ve gradually disappeared…

9) This month you’re having to use credit cards for things you normally pay for with cash…

10) You’ve checked your credit card statement from a year ago - and you owe more now than you did then…

(* Statistic supplied by Credit Action)