Money Debt & Credit in First

First, 'Plastic - not so fantastic'

Not everyone will be celebrating the credit card's 40th birthday...

It's four decades since credit cards became part of British life. These days we spend a staggering £124 billion a year on our plastic. Personal debt ahs spiralled as more and more of us use credit card to fund our shopping, with Brits amassing £55.97 billion of debt.

Since Barclaycard first launched on 29 June, 1966, some 1,300 different cards are now available from 60 different providers. The average Brit has 2.4 cards, with only 16 per cent of us resisting the lure of instant credit.

Samantha Campbell failed to resist the temptation - and is now trapped by her credit card debts.

The 39-year-old mother-of-three from St Albans has six credit cards and two personal loans, leaving her £70,000 in the red. Samantha faced bankruptcy until she sought help from the Citizens' Advice Bureau. 'I was using credit to live and getting deeper and deeper into debt,' explains Samantha.

'I was even using credit to pay my mortgage. It was a nightmare.

'I did the typical thing of getting loans and new credit cards to pay off old ones, only to max them out again. It's a vicious circle. At first I was making the minimum payments so I had a good credit rating, meaning credit was always available to me.

'Since my husband and I divorced 18 months ago I've been living 100 per cent on credit. My ten-year-old has learning difficulties, so I can't work until I find him a suitable school. Credit was my only option.

'I didn't want to declare myself bankrupt, I wanted to pay at least some of it back and face up to my application for an individual Voluntary Arrangement to be agreed. It's a legal arrangement made with my creditors by a third party, in my case a company called Money Debt & Credit.

'I'll pay back an amount I can afford, which normally totals around 25 per cent of the total debt. I'll never take out credit again.'

For more information on tackling debt visit www.citizensadvice.org.uk.