As Christmas approaches, local charity Exeter Citizens Advice Bureau is helping people avoid a Christmas debt hangover by sharing their top ten tips for keeping festive finances in check.
Exeter Citizens Advice Bureau Chief Executive Steve Barriball, said:
“We all want to have the best possible Christmas. It's important to be savvy when shopping and to be aware of how spending pans out.”
The top tips are:
1. Plan early Be realistic and budget accordingly. Work out how much you are going to spend on each person– and stick to it. Manage expectations as to what...
There has been a dramatic upsurge in debt worries among people in the Exeter area, according to new figures released by StepChange Debt Charity. In the first six months of this year, 648 residents in the Exeter postcode area sought debt advice from the charity’s helpline compared to 580 in the same period last year, an increase of 12 per cent.
The figures point to a further strain on household budgets, with those contacting the charity from the Exeter area an average of £11 per month worse off than the same time last year. The average person in Exeter seeking the charity’s help was...
In honour of International Credit Union Day on Thursday 16 October 2014, the Archdeacon of Exeter is launching ‘Join a Devon Credit Union Month’ when he hopes Devon people will join up during October to keep their savings in Devon.
All three credit unions are keen to welcome new active members. As well as savers they need people with relevant skills to join up, get to know them and the way they work, and then volunteer their financial, website, or marketing skills.
"‘I am very pleased to become a member of a Devon credit union," says Christopher Futcher Archdeacon of Exeter...
Every day, 36 households in the South West are at risk of losing their home, new analysis from Shelter reveals.
The research, based on data recorded by the Ministry of Justice found that in the past year more than 13,200 homes in the South West are at risk of eviction or repossession, the equivalent of 36 every day.
It also identified the latest hotspots across the region where people are most likely to face losing their home, with Weymouth and Portland and Gloucester topping the list. Other hotspots in the region’s top ten included Bristol, Bournemouth and Plymouth....
Recently launched, 4Squared South West is a new business with its head office in Exeter, offering debt advice and insolvency solutions to companies across Devon, Cornwall, Dorset, Somerset and Wiltshire.
Although the 4Squared team specialises in helping all types of companies deal with debt and insolvency, they are on a mission to prevent such companies from getting into trouble in the first place.
Whilst working with individuals and sole traders to partnerships and limited companies, the 4Squared team has all too often witnessed people leaving it far too late to save their...
Local charity, Exeter Citizens Advice Bureau, has said the route to more competition in the payday loans market is for banks to offer responsible alternatives.
Provisional findings from the Competition and Markets Authority has found payday loan customers could be paying £5 to £10 more per loan due to lack of competition.
Steve Barriball, Exeter Citizens Advice Bureau Chief Executive, said: “People are paying over the odds for payday loans that often sentence customers to years-worth of expensive debt. Borrowers are left with deep financial problems after what was supposed...
More people are struggling to pay their rents and bills according to the latest figures reported by Exeter Citizens Advice Bureau today. The local charity’s advice trend statistics for January 2014 published today show that they are recording more than 50% more problems with local authority rent arrears than in the previous year. There was an even sharper increase in the numbers of problems with housing association rent arrears which rose by over 65%. Exeter CAB Chief Executive Steve Barriball said: “Positive economic news is welcome, as are predictions that the economy is leaving one of...
New reforms, banning Bailiffs and Councils from ‘heavy-handed behaviour’ when collecting debts, will come into force next April.
The reforms will prevent bailiffs from entering people’s homes at night or when only children are present as well as how and when they can take property.
Last month national charity Citizens Advice accused some councils of allowing bailiffs to get away with aggressive and threatening behaviour when recovering council tax debt. Commenting on the report, Steve Bariball, CEO of Exeter CAB said: “In Exeter, we are not seeing the same issues that are...
The average level of debt among clients of Exeter Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) has risen by over £1,000 according to figures released by the local charity today.
The average clients’ debt now stands at £13,450 up by £1,091 on the previous year.
Some commentators have warned that high levels of personal debt in Britain may bring problems in later life with new research from Bristol University showing a strong link between financial problems and poor mental well-being in older people.
David Hayes, Research Associate at the Personal Finance Research Centre and author...
People in the South West are struggling to pay their rent or mortgage, but hiding their problem by taking out risky loans or saying they would keep it secret from family and friends, says Shelter.
New research commissioned by the charity found that nearly one in four rent or mortgage payers in the South West has borrowed money to cover their housing costs. Alarmingly, across the country two per cent of rent or mortgage payers – the equivalent of nearly a million people in Britain – said they had taken out a ‘payday’ loan to help pay the rent or mortgage.
