On his money show tonight, Martin Lewis shared his tips on the "important technique" called "snowballing" which he says could help you clear larger debts sooner.
The Money Saving Expert explained how if you have more than one debt, then you should try and "repay the right way" by using the "snowballing method".
The debt snowball method is a debt-reduction strategy where you pay off the debt in order of smallest to largest, gaining momentum as you knock out each remaining balance.
Martin says the first thing you should do is line them all up in order of the highest interest rate from high to low, which he says will be the overdraft for many.
Once you have done this, you should then "shift" all your "spare cash" you possibly have or can have towards paying the highest interest rate debt first, you should then pay off the minimum payment on all the others.
Martin reiterated that you don't need to pay all of these debts equally and you do not need to pay the biggest debt first.
Instead, he said you really should focus on paying the highest annual percentage rate (APR) first as this is the debt that is growing the quickest, which in turn will be the most expensive.
Once you have cleared this debt, then you can work on paying off the second one and so on.
By approaching your debts this way, Martin says you can "get rid of your debt more quickly".
He added: "Of course within all of this, try not to borrow anymore as that is going to make life more difficult."
The Money Saving Expert noted that to be able to pay these debts, you will need to make yourself a budget and try to stick to it, as you will need to be able to cover the debt payments each month.
Martin then explained how debts were not something you had in isolation, but something that you build up due to spending elsewhere and you should try and pay them off where you could, by using savings if need be.
After this section of his show, the Money Saving Expert noted that during this cost of living crisis, there is a lot of "peer pressure" to spend.
He said: "If you're struggling, I would be open about it. Tell people you're in debt. Tell people you can't afford it and can't afford to go to dinner with you.
"I can't afford to go to the pub and have a round I just need to stay in myself and everybody else. Let's accept that honestly, and not put pressure on people to spend when they don't have the cash."
Throughout the show, the Money Saving Expert reiterated that if you were struggling with debts, as several viewers wrote in to say they were, then you should reach out for help if you felt like you were not coping.
Help can be found at charities such as StepChange Debt Charity, Citizen's Advice, and National Debtline.
