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I often wonder what happens if the bank says no to a remortgage - I guess that's when you make an appearance on "Can't pay, we'll take it away" On a rare sunny evening a fortnight ago I was sat in a pub beer garden. A young couple + baby arrived in a newish C-class Merc, big alloys, AMG bodykit (on a friggin c220 diesel), the stench of finance wafted across the car park. After their first drink they fancied a second drink. Listening to their conversation, it seemed they couldn't scrape together enough for another round & she thought her cards (I assume of the credit variety) were on stop. Off they trotted into their nice (to some eyes) prestige (ahem!) German car cos the poor thick sods could afford 2 rounds of drinks. I can understand people being on the bones of their arses (I remember 25 years ago breaking down wooden fencing one winter to keep the fire going cos I was skint - my apologies to Teesdale District Council) but being on the bones of your arse whilst running around in a German taxi waving around the latest smartphone beggars belief.

... and these are not all 'poor' people, but people with enough money to pay their bills and mortgage comfortably but focus on the short term with superficial things like tech crap/expensive TVs/gym membership/BMW M to impress the neighbours? I've got one mate who's a bricklayer. He works like a dog 7days a week. His wife works as a teaching assistant and doesn't even earn the money to cover the cost of getting a bus to work but she insists on driving a new BMW 1series, two kids 18/16 with bedrooms full of tech crap, space age kitchen, expensive foreign holidays, 6 pedigree dogs that are always at the vets, and they've just remortgaged the house.

It's because many act on impulse, basic arithmetic escapes a good percentage of the population and far too many are interested in appearances - making out they're financially better off than they are. Thats why there's plenty of mid & older folk who own nothing, their car's on tick, even the sofa they sit on they're paying off over 5 years. I'm not judging, however most of us are in whatever situation we're in because of the choices (good & bad) we've made throughout life.

You may or may not be surprised how basic finance and the cost of borrowing money is not explained to some people. it's not that they don't know how expensive it can be to borrow money, but they don't weigh up the options? At the bottom end of the market its easy to think they're all scumbags, but the real scumbags gave us 'pay day' loans?