When you’re young and living life to the full, it can be tempting to see your credit card as a bottomless well of money. And faced with higher living costs than previous generations – not to mention the lure of online shopping – many young people find themselves spending beyond their means on a regular basis.

This can leave you spiralling into debt before you even hit the age of 30. And once caught in this trap, you might get stuck paying interest upon interest without even chipping away at the original debt.

But with some simple changes in your spending and saving habits, you can move closer towards a debt-free future. Here are some top tips to avoid the debt spiral.

It may sound obvious, but the easiest way to stay out of debt is to avoid spending beyond your means in the first place. For many people, the biggest threat is the impulse purchases they make on their credit cards.

Getting this habit under control can take some discipline. Don’t spend more than you can pay off in full each month (otherwise you’ll be paying interest). Apply discipline by reducing the limit on your credit card; banks sometimes tempt us with offering credit increases – don’t go there unless you’re confident you can pay it off!

The more credit cards you have, the more you could end up paying in fees and interest. Instead, you might be better off consolidating debts onto a single low-interest card so it’s easier to focus on paying it off.

The quickest way for credit card debt to get out of hand is by missing the repayments. Pay off your balance every month – or at the very least, make sure you meet the minimum payment amount.

You can also avoid a debt spiral by looking closely at your regular income and expenses then make a realistic budget you can stick to. By adding up outgoing costs, including things like rent, bills and student fees, you’ll know exactly how much you have left over each week or month to spend on yourself.

Writing down expenses is also a useful way to work out where the money is going – and finding ways to make small cutbacks. For example, buying a $4 takeaway coffee each day might not seem like much of a luxury, but it quickly adds up to more than a $1400-a-year habit

For some people, the slide into debt can begin when unexpected costs crop up – like car repairs or medical expenses. Even if you are managing your finances okay on a day-to-day basis, try to have enough money set aside to cope with an emergency.

It’s never too early to put together a regular savings plan, so you’ll have extra funds to tap into - just in case.

Talking to a financial planner can help you understand your situation and make confident financial decisions (big or small) so you can get the most out of life.