Although the recession has “technically” been avoided, this news will not help those Australians who are still struggling with debt.

Many people still find themselves in jobs which are “at risk” or have been laid off already which means that the stimulus package monies have probably already been spent in the wake of rising household costs, petrol costs and credit commitments.

When it comes down to feeding the family or paying a credit card debt or loan, it is obvious some Australian families are having to make hard choices.  These decisions leave them feeling they have no option left but to file for Bankruptcy, not knowing that there are alternatives to bankruptcy, such as a Debt Agreement orLoan Consolidation.

“Life shouldn’t be a struggle.” says Natalie Levett, Associate Director at Australian Financial Solutions. “There are alternatives out there and people need to be aware that bankruptcy can be avoided as long as you get help sooner rather than later.”

Bear in mind that once you go bankrupt, its very difficult and expensive to undo, and can have long term consequences.

Bankruptcy should always be considered as a last resort – there are other options such as debt agreements, that might be more suitable for you and are worth investigating.  It’s always a good idea to seek professional advice before going down this route.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on the 4th of Feburary, 2009 that in seasonally adjusted terms (not including the impact of the government’s December 2008 ‘Stimulus Package’), all retail industries had a sales increase in December 2008, with Food retailing (+1.4%), Department stores (+8.3%), Clothing and soft good retailing (+5.8%), Household good retailing (+9.9%), Other retailing (+2.6%) and Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (+1.7%).

With the impending stimulus packages to be released over the next couple of months, and the government encouraging retail spend, some people may find themselves in a worse of position than before with over spending.

Yes, that’s right, too much credit.  It’s about time that we realised that our amount of credit card and other unsecured debt is just as damaging to our health as cigarettes and alcohol.  The associated stress and worry of interest and repayments are taxing on the readily employed with a reasonable income, not to mention to effects our out-of-control spending has on those recently affected by the GFC. To those Australians who find themselves now unable to meet their credit commitments, this is very much the overconsumption of credit.

It’s all too easy to point the finger at the over-eager banks and lenders for wanting us to spend the money.  We are, after all, asking for the money ourselves and then happily trotting off to spend it.  We must take responsibility for our actions and our over-consumption.

The problem is… what if you can’t?  Many ‘under-employed’ people have lost their well-paying jobs and now find themselves working in whatever capacity they can to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table.  The reduced income however, does not stretch as far as pDebtaying all those loans and credit cards.

“There are other options out there’” Natalie Levett of Australian Financial Solutionsis quick to point out, “Most people just aren’t aware that there are alternatives which sit between ‘all OK’ and the last resort of bankruptcy”.

If you’ve recently become one of the many Australians struggling with debt, its important to know what your options are.  If your struggling with credit card debt, the best solution for you may be debt consolidation or loan refinancing.  This brings all your debt repayments under one regular payment, making it much easier for you to manage.  You may even find that you can lower your interest rate or monthly payments.