Ian was never good at budgeting. Whenever he wanted something he just pulled out a credit card and bought it without thinking. He bought his wife's wedding ring using a credit card.

Concerned about his spending Louise ordered Ian to pay off all his credit cards debts, which he did with another loan! Three times Ian had a CCJ awarded against him and still he kept on spending. He tried to keep his spending a secret from Louise but when she started opening his mail she realised the size of the problem.

Using a Statement of Affairs she calculated that their debt was nearly £25,000. Fortunately they had a lot of equity in their house which they tried to release using their current mortgage provider but were turned down due to Ian's bad credit rating. They then considered a secured loan which although much more expensive reduced their monthly bills.

Louise decided to payoff the most expensive credit card bills ie the store cards and ones above 22% APR with a secured loan of 15% APR and the rest they signed up to a debt management plan.