Get financial help before it's too late, says Parsons

Care for the Family's Rob Parsons and his daughter lawyer Katie Clarke have teamed up to write a new practical guide for people needing advice on how to survive the financial crisis.

The Sixty Minute Debt Buster offers tips on how to save money on the weekly shop, who to contact to get professional advice, and how to avoid repossession of their homes. It also explains why celebrities like Carol Vorderman who advertise consolidation loans should reconsider their endorsements.

Katie Clarke, 31, has spent much of her legal career advising people how to get out of debt and representing families in court who face having their homes repossessed.

She says debt can be devastating to individuals and families: "Debt is no respecter of income. Thousands have spent up to their limit on credit cards and the boom of the past five years has gone. We are now facing the consequences.

"Others simply do not have enough to live on. Redundancy, inflated prices and little chance of finding work mean that millions are in debt through no fault of their own. One of the major problems is that people are embarrassed to get help and sometimes leave it too late."

The latest statistics from Credit Action reveal that today consumers will borrow an additional £154m, 298 people will be declared insolvent or bankrupt, and 422 mortgage possession claims will be issued and 323 mortgage possession orders will be made. The Council of Mortgage lenders estimates the number of properties repossessed every day to increase by 65 per cent to approximately 205 a day in 2009.

Care for the Family is encouraging people to bust their debt by taking part in its financial experiment, Cash for a Month. The initiative was first pioneered in 2005, when 2000 people across the UK ditched their plastic and went back to cash for 28 days.

According to the charity, 81 per cent of people said that Cash for a Month was an excellent way to maintain control of finances.

"Four years on many people are still using the same principles and have seen their finances revolutionised. Getting help is key to turning your situation around. This book will guide you through that process. You can start making a change in 60 minutes," says Rob, bestselling author The Money Secret and Executive Chairman of Care for the Family.

Katie says, "Debt makes you feel worthless and, worse still, hopeless. But over the years I have seen hundreds of people turn their financial situation around. It's not quick, it's not easy - sometimes it feels like turning an ocean liner around, but it can be done. The important thing is to start!"

The Sixty Minute Debt Buster is published by Lion Hudson.

On the web: www.careforthefamily.org.uk/debtbuster