We’d all like to be able to repay our debts a little faster, but the reality is that most of us don’t really give a lot of thought to this. Most people will only ever repay their debts as their terms dictate, failing to realise that a few overpayments could reduce the overall amount they have to pay.

But if you do want to repay your debts more quickly, then using additional cash to ‘overpay’ on your debts can be a good idea. Here are a few tips for clearing your debts faster.

Repaying debts in the right order

The key to reducing the total amount you pay – and therefore how fast you can repay your debts – is repaying them in the right order. More specifically, this means repaying the debts with the highest interest rate first, and gradually working your way down to the debt with the lowest rate.

This doesn’t mean only repaying the debt with the highest rate – you will obviously have to make at least the minimum repayments on all of your debts. But any excess income should go towards overpaying on the debt with the highest rate (usually online payday loans) , as far as your repayment terms will allow.

The maths behind this are quite simple: repaying high-interest debts faster means they take less time to repay, meaning you’ll be charged a high rate for a shorter period.

Some people feel that this method of repaying debt can be discouraging because it could take longer to clear the first debt in full than if you started with smaller debts, but it is certainly the cheapest way of repaying what you owe.

Note: if you’re a credit card borrower, your provider is now required to repay your debts in this order. More details on this can be found at http://www.uswitch.com/credit-cards/order-of-payment/.

Increasing you amount you can pay each month

If you really want to speed up the amount of time it takes to repay what you owe, then you may find that a few improvements to the way you manage your finances can free up extra cash.

A few ideas might include putting together a strict budget to give your finances a bit more structure (reducing unnecessary spending), or generally cutting back on a few things you don’t need. Both these things could raise additional cash for overpayments towards your debts.

You can find more tips on ways to beat debt at http://www.debtadvisorycentre.ie

Keeping on top of your debts is always important – even more so in the current financial climate. So if your debts have become difficult to manage, finding the best way to fix your debt problems is essential.

When is debt a problem?

In short, if you are having any difficulty with repaying your debts, then you have debt problems. But it’s never wise to wait until you’re actually missing payments – even if you’re meeting all your payments, the signs could still be there that problems are on the way. These signs might include:

• your credit card balance is going down very slowly, or not at all
• you have overdrafts that are not being repaid
• you sometimes have to spend next month’s money in advance to get by.

You should realise that having a lot of debt means that you are at risk, even if you are managing well enough now – a change in your circumstances could easily make your debt unmanageable.

How can I fix my debt problems?

There are a number of things you can do to improve your financial situation.

If your debt situation is not too serious, you may be able to improve your circumstances just by reorganising your finances. If you don’t already follow one, then creating a budget can make a big difference.

This involves noting down how much you spend on your regular essential expenses every month, and ensuring this amount is put aside each time you get paid. The amount left over is safe to spend (or save) as you wish.

By looking closely at your finances, you may also be able to identify areas in which you can cut back – for example, by spending less on clothes or DVDs. When you’re struggling with debt, it’s always a good idea to cut back on non-essential spending.

If budgeting and economising doesn’t seem likely to help, then it’s important that you get professional debt advice as soon as possible. An expert debt adviser can offer help and guidance on a range of debt solutions that could help you to get your finances back in order.