Panorama and Debt- very concerning

The problem for people who take out 'payday loans' is that they are so poor that no bank would give them an overdraft. They are caught in the small loan with very high interest trap.

I've no idea if they spend the money on things like TVs and mobiles, which most people regard as a normal and essential part of life; perhaps it goes on food and clothes for their families. But the loan sharks are taking disgraceful advantage of their poverty...

Esspee , I'm not the slightest bit interested in your business. Just pointing out that a mortgage is a debt. If you want to call it 'paying by installments' that's your affair, but, however you look at it, it's a debt.

MaizieD As you are so interested in my business it gives me great pleasure to inform you that the last three properties my husband and I purchased were cash sales.
In the early days we did have three further homes which were purchased with the help of partial mortgages but we never considered that as debt, simply paying by installments.

growstuff

*Yes, of course, budgeting and money management should definitely be on the school curriculum, along with parenting, don't you think?*

No.

Not what I was talking about. But about the fast spiralling nature of debt and interest rates- especially by Pay Day loan companies that charge incredible high rates. How a small loan can turn into the biggest nightmare and wipe you, and your family, out.

Dinahmo

Calistemon

but about the multiple Money lending companies that prey on the weakest and most vulnerable

I'm sorry. I didn't see the programme and your OP didn't make it clear

I didn't realise either.

The Payday Loan companies, loan sharks etc are vultures that prey on the poorest and most vulnerable in society. Once ensnared, it's a downward spiral of debt.
Google Payday loans and up they all pop.

I saw one woman on TV who'd borrowed £50 from a friendly woman, another school mum and ended up homeless:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-your-money-59595246

I saw that lady too but at least she seems to have got her life back together. I can't imagine how she did it, but good for her.

Yes, but how shocking that a 'friendly school mum' (if she was) could do that.

I hope these people are found and imprisoned. They are fraudsters.

Yes, of course, budgeting and money management should definitely be on the school curriculum, along with parenting, don't you think?

No.

Wages were high, our rent was cheap. We had the chance to save

There you go Hetty, I wonder what is the difference? and tumbledown cottages are £££

No one in my family would be able to get to work or school without us having a car/s

Katie59 It was equally as hard saving for a deposit whilst renting back in the seventies. We only managed to get on the ladder because my GM had died leaving my father with a house to sell. In those circumstances I had no compunction about asking for a loan. We bought our first house when we were 33 and 32. Youngsters today often want to buy at a younger age.

Calistemon

^but about the multiple Money lending companies that prey on the weakest and most vulnerable^

I'm sorry. I didn't see the programme and your OP didn't make it clear

I didn't realise either.

The Payday Loan companies, loan sharks etc are vultures that prey on the poorest and most vulnerable in society. Once ensnared, it's a downward spiral of debt.
Google Payday loans and up they all pop.

I saw one woman on TV who'd borrowed £50 from a friendly woman, another school mum and ended up homeless:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-your-money-59595246

I saw that lady too but at least she seems to have got her life back together. I can't imagine how she did it, but good for her.

It seems to me that there's a whole world more to want, 'need' or aim to acquire than when we were young. Mobiles, cars, branded garb, beauty treatments etc. were never on my wish list. It was just so easy to keep up with others and the expected norm back then, wasn't it?

We didn't have much or many expenses. I had some jeans, skirts, jumpers and t-shirts. My own hair, eyebrows and nails were quite good enough. Wages were high, our rent was cheap. We had the chance to save.

So delighted to buy our first place, a tumbledown cottage, paint the walls and dig the garden, we lived with the grubby carpets and pathetic excuse for a kitchen for years.

Our expectations were so easily met, we lived well, partied, holidayed and had fun. I feel so sorry for young people today.

Yes, of course, budgeting and money management should definitely be on the school curriculum, along with parenting, don't you think?

Maths lesssons should show clearly how quickly a small debt can become a millstone, and much worse, in very little time.

MaizieD

^This thread was NOT, in any way, shape or form, about young people's consumer behaviour-^

You were very optimistic there, Kali2.

but about the multiple Money lending companies that prey on the weakest and most vulnerable

I'm sorry. I didn't see the programme and your OP didn't make it clear.

(A mortgage is still a debt, though. I was just pointing out that fact for the benefit of the self righteous...)

Of course a mortgage is a debt, the alternative is to rent, if you deduct the rent you have to pay the debt is quite small and after 5 yrs it might even be positive.
Saving for a mortgage deposit is almost impossible if you are renting.

but about the multiple Money lending companies that prey on the weakest and most vulnerable

I'm sorry. I didn't see the programme and your OP didn't make it clear

I didn't realise either.

The Payday Loan companies, loan sharks etc are vultures that prey on the poorest and most vulnerable in society. Once ensnared, it's a downward spiral of debt.
Google Payday loans and up they all pop.

I saw one woman on TV who'd borrowed £50 from a friendly woman, another school mum and ended up homeless:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-your-money-59595246

argh I hate my autocorrect

A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE TO SELL THEIR POSESSIONS EVERY TIME THEY MOVE TO A NEW RENTAL PROPERTY

A lot of people have to their possessions every time they have to move house (which in some cases is a lot) and the replace when they move.

You don't get your rent deposit back until months after you have moved in many many cases

I am a bit sick of this young people want new, expect this, that and the other. Life is INCREDIBLY tough and hard if you don't have parents to help and support you (financially, emotionally and physically - sp many of you look after your own grandchildren so your children can work!)

It's all very well relating anecdotes about selling jewellery, my widowed mother in the 1960s not only sold her engagement ring but had her wedding ring pared down for goodness knows how little, but young people won't have jewellery to sell because they won't have been able to afford it in the first place!

I think this is a very unfair set of attacks on young people. Times change, it's now hard to afford university without taking out an enormous loan yet almost all jobs require not just a first degree but a Masters or other postgraduate qualification too. I know some on this forum are proud to not own a smart phone but that too has become essential to daily living from banking, to availability for appointments to attending meetings and conferences.

Rental properties, if you can find one, cost a fortune. Need to commute for work? Cars also cost a huge amount and fuel costs are escalating. Public transport, rail fares are though the roof.
We will never return to the 1950s and we need to deal with the world we are living in, not hark back to some idyll (which never existed in the first place!)

Yes I did see the program and was very sympathetic until one of the featured people showed us the 4 jackets he’d bought.
Not a vulnerable person: a teaching assistant.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0012jqk

Yes, of course- totally understood your comment.

This thread was NOT, in any way, shape or form, about young people's consumer behaviour-

You were very optimistic there, Kali2.

but about the multiple Money lending companies that prey on the weakest and most vulnerable

I'm sorry. I didn't see the programme and your OP didn't make it clear.

(A mortgage is still a debt, though. I was just pointing out that fact for the benefit of the self righteous...)

Did anyone see the programme?

MaizieD

Esspee

I have never been in debt as I always lived within my means. So my house is more modest than I can actually afford, we share a car nowadays and I always look for value for money.
Young people today want everything now, whether they can afford it or not.
Rather than debt education perhaps lessons about living within one’s means would be more appropriate.

So, did you buy your house outright? Or did you go into debt to buy it aka a mortgage?

Yes, most of us had to have mortgages, for sure. But we were tested for what we could afford- unlike current 'Pay Day, loans and similar types. On the programme, the journalist opened loans with many of those companies without any checks about finances, or about other loans.

This thread was NOT, in any way, shape or form, about young people's consumer behaviour- but about the multiple Money lending companies that prey on the weakest and most vulnerable- and that the Government should seriously study the effects and take measures to protect the above.

A mortgage is a very very different proposition altogether.

Shandy
I’ve been there. But fortunately those were the days when you could actually talk to your mortgage provider.
I did this on the good advice from my boss. He told me to phone everyone we owed money to before we got the letter
I offered the mortgage provider what I thought we could afford
and he lowered my offer ?

have any