Tuesday 14th August, 2007 

Top tip for avoiding debt- get better organised! Yes, that simple. Recent research has revealed that we forked out a fortune on unexpected bills over the last year.

Recent research commissioned by Abbey revealed that four out of 5 of us are hit with bills out of the blue. In fact, we forked out a massive £48.7 billion over the last 12 months. Many of us hadn't made financial provision because we hadn't anticipated these costs and so we either dipped into our savings or used a credit card.

So what are the top three bills that catch us out?

1. Household repairs caught out 36% of us at an average cost of £1206.
2. Unpredicted taxes, fees and other bills, costing on average £773, affected 42% of the population.
3. Additional travel expenses cost 29% of us £447.

So how do we avoid these unexpected bills? The answer is to expect the unexpected. How do we do this? Well sometimes the most obvious answer is the right one. Set aside some money each month to act as a contingency fund for unforeseen expenses. This acts as a form of insurance plan that we only claim on when that "Oh no, I forgot about that!" bill lands on our door-step.