Half of all grandparents have helped with the costs of bringing up grandchildren, with a fifth of these costs attributed to debt repayment. Karl Elliott, a spokesman for the mutual assurance firm, said: “With money issues becoming an increasing concern…

It found that that between the first three months of 2006 and April to June 2006, average pensioner household income rose by just 0.6 per cent, while “essential expenditure” rose by 3.8 per cent – over six times as fast.…

According to David Kuo, head of personal finance at Motley Fool, many people are only taking on extra debt to fund such frivolities as smoking and drinking, yet risk being overcharged for such loans in the process. “What we really…

The Interactive Media in Retail Group (IMRG) claims that online shopping meant that there are even more opportunities for poor debt management, with Christmas 2006 internet spending already beating last year’s one-day record of £131 million. “Shoppers spent £5 billion…

However, the average smoker thinks they will only save less than £1,000 a year by quitting – £500 less than official figures. “The six million smokers in England who are planning to kick the habit next year are set to…

Inflation officially stands at 2.4 per cent, but the Capital Economics research found that debt management for poor people is harder due to rising living costs. According to the study, pensioners’ costs rose by 8.9 per cent in the 12…

The study shows that more than a third of people aged over 65 living on the lowest household incomes saw a tenth of their income eaten up by fuel bills. Over a quarter of pensioners said that paying council tax…

In the Tesco Personal Finance survey, 22 per cent of respondents said that they were worried about their Christmas debt management, with only a third feeling optimistic about their yuletide spending. “It could be that as we move into autumn,…