Buying a house and starting a family got me into a spiral of debt I thought I’d never escape from – but paying for most things in cash saved me, writes our guest author Katie Johnson.
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Using cash got me out of more than £50k of debt
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FCA: why we’re taking action on overdrafts
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Unarranged overdraft fees can be expensive and harmful – that’s why we’re proposing a radical redesign, says Christopher Woolard, Director of Strategy and Competition at the Financial Conduct Authority.
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How are you paying for Christmas this year?
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The Christmas season is known to come with its own special hefty price tag, so how do we cope with the cost of Christmas? *Warning – not a lot of Christmas cheer can be found here*.
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Are you tightening your belt post-Christmas?
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Our research has found that millions of people relied on credit to pay for Christmas this year. And sadly many people are concerned their budgets will be squeezed even tighter next year. Are you one of them?
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Jo Swinson: payday loans aren’t the only option
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In this guest post, Consumer Affairs Minister Jo Swinson explains how the government is working to clean up the payday loans industry and asks – what other alternatives are there to payday lenders?
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How’s the economy treating you?
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The latest Which? Quarterly Consumer Report reveals a mismatch between perception and reality as confidence is on the rise, yet 1.5 million more families are feeling financially squeezed…
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It’s D-Day for payday lenders (at last)
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Two cheers for the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) today as it confirms that it has referred the payday loan sector to the Competition Commission. Better late than never.
Should young people lower their expectations?
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When you’re young it’s easy to assume that, eventually, you’ll get a job and earn good money. But new research has found that instead, high debt and reliance on parents is becoming the new ‘normal’.
Would you go to the bank of gran and grandpa?
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Would you turn to grandma or granddad in a cash crisis? You might not be alone – a report from Investec Wealth and Investment reveals one in six grandparents are lending an average £2,496 to their squeezed grandkids.
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Regional debt divide: is it grim up north?
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It won’t surprise you to hear there’s a divide in economic prosperity between different regions of the UK. But what might surprise you is the scale of the disparity.
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Why do we regret taking out payday loans?
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Payday lenders often come under fire for their money lending practices, so we decided to ask people about their experiences with payday loans. Have you ever taken a payday loan and lived to regret it?
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Debt advice: you can get something for nothing
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Half of people who pay fees for debt management plans don’t know they can set up these plans for free. Worse still, research has found that plans set up by fee-charging companies are more likely to fail than free ones.
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How wide is the North/South divide?
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The idea of there being a North-South divide in Britain isn’t new, but what the divide is, how it’s affecting people, and reasons for it are changing. Do you think the North-South divide is as wide as it used to be?
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Bad debt? Selling high-interest loans on the doorstep
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You might have tuned into ‘Debt on the Doorstep’ on BBC Panorama last night. One provider was shown selling high-interest loans to a woman with schizophrenia. Isn’t it time for better regulation of loan companies?