Regular readers of our news column will know that at the beginning of the month we were expecting more than 400 people in Wiltshire to seek our advice on financial matters in January, 2017.
Well, thanks to the hard work of our frontline advisers, we helped almost 500 people with over 1,000 debt and money issues.
For some people, like many of us, they were reviewing their finances at the beginning of the year and wanted advice about their options and guidance about what they could do, for example with their pension pot or to find out if they could get a better deal on their utility supplies.
For others, their situation was more complex and more urgent. The three biggest debt problems we helped people with this January were all related to household bills - Council Tax arrears, rent arrears and water debts.
Earlier this week the the national Citizens Advice charity responded to the Bank of England’s latest money and credit statistics saying that while rising consumer borrowing could lead to serious debt problems further down the line - it is household bills putting the pressure on people’s finances now.
According to the Bank’s December 2016 figures, unsecured consumer credit is at its highest level since the financial crash and recession of 2008.
Below, how debt enquiries to Citizens Advice have changed over recent years: