What can help most is a budget, a buffer and a strategy. A budget is really just a plan for your spending – it’s a big help when you’re directing your money towards a goal like being debt-free. But even before you tackle your debt, it helps to have a rainy day fund first. That way you’re ready for the unexpected. Without a safety net, if something happens, you’d just have to run your debt up all over again. ĠEMMA has good strategies for tackling debt: search for ‘debt’ in our www.gemma.gov.mt.  Also look at our calculators page by click here.  We have some great calculators on debt which are useful to you.