If you are still spending with plastic as a means of running away from your problems rather than tackling them head on, now is the time to ditch the cards and get serious.

The UK is slowly weaning itself off of its obsession with spending. For the last five years credit has been cheap and mortgages have been plentiful, so Brits were given a carte blanche to spend and keep spending. Now, unfortunately, the music has been turned off and the party is over.

You may have lived life on credit for years, but for a while that worked. You could buy clothes, go shopping, buy cars, go on holiday and go for nights out all on credit. It would stack up and up and up and then, a few years down the line you simply walked into your mortgage broker's office and found that your house had increased in value and you were eligible for a sub prime mortgage. You took the mortgage, it consolidated your debt and you were free to continue.

If needs be, you could have also taken out a second mortgage inbetween times. Times were good, spending was easy. But now the tables have turned; there are no sub prime mortgages, there are no second mortgages and house prices are not increasing.

So if you are still living in 2005, its time to ditch the cards. Whatever unsecured debts you have right now, you are stuck with them; a broker cannot come and save you now – now is the time to get sensible with your credit.

By all means, visit your broker, but do not expect miracles. A broker will now offer you chances to pay off your debts, through saving or through sensible consolidation. they may be able to offer you a remortgage or they might even be able to offer you a new deal – but it won't be able to clear your debts and give you another instant chance to spend again. Now is the time to save, to look to the long-term and to face the fact that the credit party is well and truly over.

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