There's lots of good advice available on how to get out of debt.  The reality though, is that getting out of debt can be a bit like dieting.  Even though, ultimately, it can do you good, the process itself isn't necessarily a whole lot of fun.  Making it fun may be a bit too much of a stretch, but there are ways to keep yourself motivated.  Who knows, you might even start to enjoy the challenge. Tip 1 – Be Reasonable With Yourself You may have made some stupid mistakes to end up where you are now, but those are in the past. The key point now is to manage the situation you are in and to put yourself into a strong position for the future. If you only have a small amount of debt, you may be able to pay it back by going on a financial crash diet.  In other words, you can pare your lifestyle down to the minimum so as to make the maximum possible debt repayments. There is, however, a limit to the length of time anyone could reasonably be expected to follow a strategy like this.  If you try to keep going with this sort of plan for too long, then you open yourself up to the danger of blowing your budget. At best, you'll have a (major) set-back.  At worst, you'll lose motivation to continue. With this in mind, it can be better to pay back your debt a little more slowly so you have a bit of breathing space. Tip 2 – Work Towards Goals And Rewards You don't have to wait until you are debt-free to celebrate progress. Set yourself goals to achieve along the way and allow yourself an appropriate reward for meeting them. The rewards don't even need to be financial.  At the beginning, you can even just award yourself a certificate.  Pin it on your wall and look at it every time you need a bit of a boost. As time goes by and you begin to get more control over your finances, you can start to divert a bit of money from your debt repayments for small rewards to recognize your achievements so far. You can also start to think about what you'll do with the cash you're currently spending on debt repayments once you're debt free. Tip 3 – Get Creative And Be Flexible To Get Treats Keep your eyes open for ways to get treats at lower prices.  There are actually all sorts of options. Check magazines for old-fashioned, money-off coupons and check online sites for discount codes.  Look for off-peak deals and last-minute offers. If you're in or near a place where students study practical courses, then look out for colleges offering cut-price services carried out by their students. Squeeze extra benefit out of purchases you have to make anyway by signing up for loyalty deals. Try home-made alternatives to purchases you can't afford for now. Have a film night at home with supermarket popcorn instead of going to the cinema (and you can pass on the trailers too). Try your luck with free-to-enter competitions (or ones which require purchases you were going to make anyway).  Somebody has to win. Tip 4 – Keep Some Emergency Funds Available If you're already in debt, then you want to avoid even applying for more credit, always assuming you can actually get it. You particularly want to avoid being in a situation where you are applying to high-interest lenders aka payday loan companies and the like. Leaving aside the impact on your credit score and the expense, this can be a very demoralizing experience after you've worked so hard. Having an emergency fund will help you to cope with life's ups and downs without having to resort to more credit.

These days getting a mortgage is a bit like getting a job. You may know you have what it takes to manage it, but unless you communicate that clearly, the chances are you're going to go away empty-handed. Understanding The Mortgage Landscape The Mortgage Market Review reforms The Mortgage Market Review took place between 2009 and 2012. As its name suggests, it was a major review of mortgage lending practices in the UK. The result of it was new mortgage rules and much stricter mortgage lending practices. In the old days mortgage applicants might have asked themselves “how much can I borrow”, these days, the relevant question is “how much can I afford”. In very simple terms, mortgage lenders today will be looking to see clear evidence that you can afford your mortgage over the long term, through life's changing circumstances. So, how do you get the mortgage you want? (see also http://www.fsa.gov.uk/about/what/mmr) Step 1 – Tidy Up Your Present Getting your financial house in order can have all sorts of benefits in addition to being approved for a mortgage. In terms of improving your chances of being improved for a mortgage, you want to look at your overall debt situation. That includes what you could call potential debt. In other words if you have credit and store cards you rarely, if ever, use, it's time to think about whether or not you really need them. As long as you keep them open, potential lenders will see that you could ring up debt to the credit limit on each card. You may know you're not going to but they don't. If you close them off, however, you will make yourself look more attractive to a potential mortgage lender. Likewise, you may want to put in extra effort to clear off smaller debts, such as personal loans. In addition to this, make sure that you are on the electoral register (see: Why should you register to vote?) at the address you plan to use when submitting your mortgage application. As well as ensuring you will be able to vote if there is an election, this is also a major point with lenders. Step 2 – Tidy Up Your Past Your financial history is summarised in your credit report or, more accurately, your credit reports. In the UK there are three companies provide credit-reporting services. These are Experian, Equifax and CallCredit. As they each use their own systems to create their own reports, you will need to get a copy of each report to see yourself as others see you. On each report, check for any factual errors and, if necessary, have these removed. Then look for anything, which comes under the heading of “true, but”. In other words, look for anything which is factually correct but paints a misleading or outdated picture of your finances and/or financial management. You might not be able to get this removed (although if you have resolved the issue, this may be possible, there's unlikely to be any harm in asking). You may, however, be able to add a note about any special circumstances which led to the problem. As a minimum you can be prepared to explain the situation to potential lenders. Now have a look at the overall picture. Is there anything you could do to make it look better (per the comments in the previous section)? If so aim to do it before putting in your mortgage application. Step 3 – Make your application look good Treat your mortgage application process as seriously as you would treat an application form for a job. If you're applying on paper, make sure your writing is at least legible. If you're applying online, make sure you fill in all the relevant information in all the right boxes. In either case, be realistic about what you can afford in terms of monthly repayments and be prepared to support your application with appropriate documentation. YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE For Residential & Buy to Let Mortgages, our typically processing fee is £395 and we may receive commission from the lender.