An article on thisismoney.co.uk paints another gloomy picture of Britain’s economy today, with poor growth in the services sector and a dissapointing bank holiday weekend for retailers…

“There was also grim news on the High Street in the wake of a miserable bank holiday weekend for retailers in London and around the country.

“Exclusive research for the Evening Standard by SPSL showed Saturday was particularly bad in the capital, with shopper numbers down 3.8% on the equivalent day last year.

“Retailers fared slightly better on Sunday when footfall was down 0.8%, but the improvement could not hide the pain on what was seen as a vital weekend for struggling stores.”

Consumers are certainly starting to feel the pinch in a very real way. The rising cost of gas, leccy, petrol and grub, plus uncertainty over housing and tightening of lending criteria by banks are all contributing. It’s a sensible time to minimise your long-term credit commitments as far as possible - credit cards, overdrafts and bank loans.

It’s worth making a list of what you owe, who you owe it to and what the repayments are. You should also make sure you find out the early repayment terms of any such commitments and work out if you can reduce some of the balances or even pay off a loan ahead of time without being penalised.

Although it’s easier said than done, it’s worth cutting down on any luxuries in the short-term if it means you might be able to reduce your outstanding debt during turbulent times. Use Wonga’s budget tool to assist you.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 at 3:37 pm and is filed under Banks, Budgeting, Credit, Credit crunch, Debt, General.