Brits work 50 days to pay off interest on debts

Brits effectively spend 50 days earnings a year paying off interest on their debts, according to research by unbiased.co.uk.

“As a nation we will spend the first 50 days of 2010 just to earn enough money to pay off the interest on our debts,” the financial advice site said.

That means it took until Saturday 20th February before anything earned by UK consumers could be used to reduce their debts.

Unbiased.co.uk has named 20th February “Debt Freedom Day”.

“It may come as a shock that Debt Freedom Day actually only marks the day when we have paid of the interest on our debts, rather than the actual debt itself,” said Karen Barrett, unbiased.co.uk chief executive.

“Debts can quickly mount up to a considerable sum and this date demonstrates that debt is something that we need to take control of and actively manage.”

She added that consumers should take advantage of the current low interest rate environment to pay off their debts.

In related news, unbiased.co.uk revealed that credit card debt increased by £4 billion in 2009 to over £54 billion.

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