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Tuesday, 29 April, 2008 
Everyone knows one of these guys…. the chap who told you he was buying dotcom shares the week before the crash. He’s the man who only ever pays the minimum monthly payment on his credit cards Anyone who has the misfortune of watching daytime TV will see the vultures are circling for our man. Adverts offer him debt consolidation loans or cash to buy his property and let him rent it back. These firms don’t advertise unless there’s serious money in it for them. Either way, it’s the end of the party if he needs to call one of these firms Without going into any detail, Amy and I have had some problems with a (former) friend who has ended up owing us money and we’ve had to take them to the small claims court. We have a feeling there may be several credit card firms chasing our ‘friend’ and I’d not be surprised if this person ends up with serious problems in ever buying a house, taking out a loan, getting a job when classed as bankrupt or even opening a bank account. Life almost over You can’t stop someone being gullible or stupid but I do wonder if we could reduce the number of people bingeing on credit and waking up with a hangover that no amount of Anadin will clear. I think the problem two-fold. A perceived right by some to have what everyone else seems to have regardless of one’s income, and a lack of education about borrowing. The paying it off part specifically A work colleague of mine told me with a voice of resignation that his 18 year old daughter had maxxed-out her credit card and he’d have to pay it off. Again. I couldn’t believe it. His daughter’s attitude was that she was almost a victim and couldn’t help it. The fact was, her dad hadn’t prepared her for using credit and had inadvertently encouraged some terrible habits. He had no plans to cut up the card in case she’d complain I’m lucky to be the son of a (now retired) bank manager. As a boy I saved my pocket money, did a paper round from the age of 13 and even bought shares during the privatisation of gas and electricity. One thing was for sure though, I was always told that if I lost my money, it was my problem. No reward without risk. Probably the most useful lesson in life Politicians spend a great deal of time telling teachers what should be taught in schools, a good example being the recent nonsense of citizenship classes (wouldn’t lessons on Britain’s proud history and heritage be more useful?). So should a politician such as me campaign for lessons on finance and credit in schools? Possibly not as part of the curriculum, but I remember my school had a school bank. It taught children to save money, but not about credit and here lies problem. I’m not sure what the legalities are but it would be useful if children could experience the joy of borrowing a small amount of money to buy something… and the misery of paying it off, perhaps by having to earn it by doing jobs around the school, such as gardening or litter picking Ultimately parents need to teach kids about living within their means and saving money for a rainy day, assuming they’re proficient at this themselves. Financial institutions also need to take more responsibility to make sure they don’t make problems worse by offering too much credit to individuals who can’t cope Nobody’s perfect and we all make mistakes, often circumstances change which are out of our control. I suspect that in the coming years many people will learn about the downsides of spending on credit whilst times are good and having to save when times are tight. I do think, however, that it’s time we think about how we can equip a future generation to cope in a tempting world of credit All the best Matthew Lobley Roundhay Ward Conservative Councillor
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