How to clear debt without living like a monk.

Debt has a way of feeling like a single, suffocating weight. The first move that actually helps is to break it into its parts, because ‘debt’ isn't one problem — it's several, and they don't all behave the same way. Once you can see them clearly, a path opens up. You do not have to live like a monk to do this.

First, separate priority from non-priority debt

This distinction matters more than the interest rate, because it's about consequences:

• Priority debts — rent, mortgage, council tax, energy, tax. Missing these has serious consequences: eviction, bailiffs, court. These come first, always, even ahead of higher-interest cards.
• Non-priority debts — credit cards, overdrafts, personal loans, catalogue and buy-now-pay-later. Serious, but the consequences of falling behind are slower and more negotiable.

Then attack the expensive stuff in order

For non-priority debt, pay every minimum, then throw everything spare at one debt at a time. Two proven orders:

• Avalanche — highest interest rate first. Mathematically the cheapest; you pay the least overall.
• Snowball — smallest balance first. Psychologically the easiest; you clear whole debts quickly and the wins keep you going.

The best method is the one you'll finish. If numbers motivate you, avalanche. If momentum does, snowball. What loses is stopping — so pick the one that keeps you moving.

Kill the interest where you can

Expensive interest is the current that keeps pulling you back. A 0% balance-transfer card can pause interest on card debt for a year or more, so every pound goes at the balance instead of the lender — just have a plan to clear it before the 0% ends, and don't spend on the card. If your debts are spread across several lenders, a single consolidation loan can simplify things and cut the rate, but only if you then don't reload the cards you just cleared. That's the trap, and it's a common one.

Close the tap

You can't bail out a boat that's still taking on water. Alongside paying debt down, the spending that created it has to change, or you'll clear the cards and refill them. This isn't about deprivation — it's about the small gap between income and outgoings that lets you get ahead instead of treading water. Finding that gap is often the real work, and it's rarely about earning more.

Debt is beatable, and more people beat it than you'd think — usually not with heroics but with a clear order, a paused interest bill, and a plan they can actually keep to. If it feels like too much to face alone, that's exactly what free debt charities and coaching are for.