Debt and Money advice

An online budgetting tool from Citizens Advice to help you work out your budget.

Use this budgeting tool to help you understand:

If you're struggling with debt, don't despair. You can get help. You may have a number of different options and bankruptcy could be one of them.

Going bankrupt is one option for clearing your debts and making a fresh start, but it can have serious consequences. These pages on the Citizens Advice website will tell you how bankruptcy works and help you decide whether it’s right for you. It will also tell you how to apply for bankruptcy and how creditors can make you bankrupt.

You can use a mortgage calculator to find out how much your monthly mortgage repayments are likely to be. This can help you estimate the size of mortgage you can afford at a particular interest rate.

If you're having problems paying your mortgage, you must take action quickly to avoid falling into debt.

On these pages on the Citizens Advice website you can find out how to avoid falling behind with your mortgage payments, how to clear your debt if you do fall behind and what happens if you're taken to court because of mortgage debts.

Help with managing your money before, during and after the birth of your baby.

When you retire you'll need money to support you and to give you a decent standard of living. Most people get a State Pension but it's also a good idea to top this up if you can with your own pension, to make sure you'll have enough money to see you through your retirement.

Find out about the different ways you can save for your pension, how to get started and what to think about when you're getting near to retirement.

Pension Wise is a free and impartial government service about the different ways you can take money from your pension.

You can book an appointment with a Pension Wise guidance specialist. Your appointment will last around 45 to 60 minutes and will:

Appointments are over the phone or face to face. At the end you get a summary of the pension options and possible next steps. To book an appointment you should be 50 years old or over and have a defined contribution pension.

Pension Wise guidance specialists are impartial – they don’t recommend any products or companies and won’t tell you how to invest your money.

Wiltshire Citizens Advice offers appointments from number of locations including Bristol, Swindon, Yate as well as the main areas of Wiltshire.

For more information visit the Pension Wise website or phone 0800 138 3944 to book an appointment.

Getting into rent arrears can be distressing. But don't ignore the situation. If you don't take action to pay back what you owe, you could end up losing your home.

Read these pages to find out what you can do to stop yourself being evicted for rent arrears.

Young volunteers in the CAB give their advice on how to avoid debt

Payplan Payplan is a company which provides a free debt management service to people in the UK. It is independent and is funded by the credit industry. It will arrange a debt management plan for those who have assets to repay their debts.

The StepChange Debt Charity is a charitable organisation funded by the credit industry to provide free credit counselling to people in the UK.

Turn2us is a national charity helping people when times get tough. They provide financial support to help people get back on track.

This organisation can help you find financial advisers in your local area.