This article is from page 2 of the 2006-08-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
WELL-heeled and middle-income people are now coming in increasing numbers for money advice after running up crippling debts through overspending.
The service originally set up to help those living on the breadline to manage their money is now seeing well-off people in increasing numbers.
The Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS) is warning people against availing of easy finance and letting their spending get out of control.
Spokesman Paul Woulfe said, “In the start, the people we were seeing were on low incomes and often we would contact creditors for them if they are in trouble. Now, more often than not, the people we see are middle income and high earners. They are increasingly coming to us after borrowing way more than they can afford to pay back. It’s because credit has become so easy to get,” said Paul.
The MABS spokesman said that even those on good incomes are getting caught in the debt trap.
“They borrow for cars, they borrow for holidays, they spend on their credit cars and they take personal loans. It just gets out of control,” he said.
The warning came as a Shannon company revealed the results of a survey which shows that couples are borrowing in excess of €10,000 on average to fund the cost of their wedding.
An internal study conducted by GE Money has revealed that brides are willing to borrow €10,450 on average to ensure that they have their perfect day.
The overall number of wedding loans is up on corresponding years, GE found.
Commenting on the findings of the survey, Eoin Lynam, Marketing Director at GE Money said, “We have seen an increase in the number of Clare people applying for personal loans to finance their wedding especially in the last five years. While this is a big change from the old days when it was assumed that the bride’s father would pay for the do, it makes much more sense than simply sticking it on a credit card at 15 per cent when you can get a rate as low as 8.2 per cent with a personal loan.”
Woulfe said that, while many couples may be able to afford to take out loans, they should think carefully before going into debt.
“People have be realistic and look at whether they can afford the repayments. If they can, well and good but being in debt that you can’t repay is very stressful so we would say, be realistic.”