Flurry of debtors seek help from Tauranga Budget Advisory Service

Multimedia Journalist, Bay of Plenty Times·Bay of Plenty Times·

26 Feb, 2017 01:00 AM3 mins to read

Tauranga Budget Advisory Service manager Diane Bruin urges people struggling to pay their bills to seek help early. Photo/Andrew Warner.

A flurry of people have approached the Tauranga Budget Advisory Service to seek help this week as their debts mount and they struggle to pay their bills.

The service's manager Diane Bruin said since a story about a client who racked up $380,000 worth of debt had featured in the Bay of Plenty Times earlier this week, at least 20 people had called or emailed to seeking assistance.

"Our budgeters have already interviewed half of those clients, who are mainly couples aged between 35-50-years," she said.

"That's is exactly what we wanted to have happen. In a number of cases both partners attended the interview which is fantastic, because it means everyone is on the same page when comes to setting the family budget," she said.

Mrs Bruin said the service was helping 15 per cent more people this year than the same period in 2016.

The types of financial problems people had were often more complex to resolve if people delayed seeking help, she said.

Mrs Bruin said people needed to put any feelings of shame or embarrassment aside, and speak to the service's non-judgemental staff in confidence.

"Burying your head in the sand is not going to solve anything as the situation is only going to get worse," she said.

Mrs Bruin said one major area of concern was people over-committing themselves to buy vehicles, or obtaining high interest rate finance from a cash-converter type companies.

Mounting debt was not class specific problem and more professionals were coming forward to seek budgeting advice, she said.

"People have to ask themselves when they make a purchase or sign up for a loan is a need or a want. .At the end of the day it's not really about how much money you earn but what you do with that it that matters," she said.

Welcome Bay Community Centre manager Anna Larsen said the number of inquiries from people seeking assistance had jumped in recent times.

That included people finding themselves homeless through no fault of their own, and desperate people often felt they had no other choice but to obtain a loan to pay the bond to get into another property, she said.

"You can't budget if there is no money to budget with," she said.