After rising early in the morning and slogging through a long hard day, most people trundle their way home to relax. However, as debt looms in many households, there are those who come home only to go straight back out to work again in a second or even third job.

Recent studies have shown that nearly 5 million adults hold down a second job or have held down two jobs in the past. They say that it is the only way to cope with the cost of living and to contribute towards outstanding debt problems.

Some people prefer to take on a second job rather than become entangled with the financial stress of a personal loan.

Tammy Tyler from East Sussex has three jobs which consist of a 20 hour per week part-time position, a weekend job and running a small business, despite having a young family to look after.

The danger of having more than one job is that many self-employed people could find themselves in debt through non-payment of income tax, if they do not declare details of their second position to their employer or the Inland Revenue. Employers always declare self-employed positions to the IR.

Secondly, many people could be paying too much National Insurance. A P46 form will ask for details of main employment which should be completed and handed to a new employer or sent to the Revenue. This will ensure that any over payment of National Insurance contributions which could be accrued from having more than one job, can be reimbursed.

Taking on a second job is an ideal way to keep up with debt. It is also an ideal way for people approaching retirement to boost their pension. In some cases, it is far easier and much more cost effective to obtain a second job than to obtain a secured debt consolidation loan. The latter will only see you out of debt for a short while before it slowly strangles you with a lifetime of inflated repayments.