Cost of fun piles up personal debt

Britain may be emerging from its economic downturn, but large numbers of consumers have not learned any lessons about controlling their personal debt.

New research from the Payments Council has found that spending on credit and debit cards skyrocketed in the last few years, with spending on leisure activities on credit amounting to £75 billion a year alone.

That's double the amount that was spent on fun ten years ago, in spite of the recession.

And even though the years of cheap and easy credit have come to a close, old habits appear to die hard and many big spenders are refusing to adjust to the new reality.

A change in financial circumstances, such as divorce or separation or redundancy and many families with big card bills could be plunged into a debt spiral, unable to meet minimum repayments, falling into mortgage arrears and even losing their homes.

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