Whether we like it or not, we live in a consumer culture. Our status in society is judged not by our deeds but by what we have got. Where do we live, what car we drive, what food we eat and what toys our children play with. Unfortunately this culture is fuelling a have now and pay later attitude where people are happy to get into debt.

In general, if managed properly, I do not believe that debt is a bad thing. A credit card can be a very useful tool if the balance is regularly repaid. There is no reason why someone should not take a loan to fund the purchase of a new car if the repayments fit within a carefully considered budget.

The problem is that all to often, people get carried away with their ability to spend borrowed money. People are simply not aware of their financial situation and have not stopped to think about what spending more will mean. This attitude is the rocky road to disaster. I have seen many lives and families torn apart because of debt which has got out of control because people just have not used some simple financial ideas.

I have always believed in the concept of living within one’s means. One the face of it, this is such a simple idea, but in reality so difficult to achieve. The only way you can live within your means is to know what you have in the first place. The simple practice of keeping a money diary will help achieve this. Simply noting down at the beginning of each month, how much money you have available to you. Then each time you pay a bill, use a credit card or spend some cash, note this down in your money diary, deducting it from the total. In this way, you will keep track of what you have spent and know exactly what you have left until next pay day.

The money diary is also fundamental to the art of saving. At the same time as our willingness to borrow has increased, our willingness to save and understanding of how to do it has reduced. When talking to people about saving, I always recommend that this is done at the beginning of the month. Lets say you want to save £50 per month. Make sure that you transfer this money into a savings account at the beginning of the month and then deduct £50 from the balance in your money diary. You can then budget your month around your income after savings. Always save at the beginning of the month. I guarantee that if you decide to save at the end of the month, you will fail as there will be nothing left to transfer to your savings account.

These are simple habits but too few people seem to use them in their daily lives. I believe we could start to change this by teaching these skills in our schools. I have spent some time visiting groups of school children to talk about the dangers of debt and how to avoid it. I believe that we need resource focused on this area if we are to ensure our children are able to cope with the consumer culture they are growing up in.