Names: Dawn, 23 and Richard, 25.
Live: Warrington, North West.
Financial Situation: Owing £26,686 accrued on multiple credit cards.
Occupation: Dawn - Part time call centre operative. Richard - stock controller.
Biggest money wasters: Smoking, running two cars, nights out, overspending on clothes and toys for the children.
In programme one we met Dawn and Richard. They live in Warrington with their two children Chloe and Josh. Dawn and Richard are due to get married in May 2005, yet instead of saving up for the big day the pair were moving further and further into debt.
A lifestyle of going out and spending with no thought for the future was catching up with the couple, so Dawn's parents Jackie and Steve moved in to take control of the purse strings.
An average night out for Dawn and Richard costs around £80. They were frequent party animals and didn't like staying in if they could help it. Add to that their weekly cigarette stock up, which cost more than the family groceries, and Dawn's solution of 'buying when she's bored' and you started to see a problem.
A combined wage of £25,000 just couldn't sustain Dawn and Richard's wayward spending, yet the couple weren't convinced there was a real problem. Could Jackie and Steve get Dawn and Richard back on track or were they fighting a losing battle?
Watch the moment when the true extent of Dawn and Richard's debt is revealed.
Tactics:
A plan of attack was put into place to try to get Dawn and Richard back into a more positive financial situation. First up are the couple's two cars. They are told they just can't afford to run more than one car so one needs to go. The suggestion is met with disdain, although Richard does agree to hanging up his car keys for the week.
Jackie turned her attentions to Dawn and her weak spot - buying unnecessary clothes for the children. It was off to a car boot sale for these two, but after two hours Dawn lost interest and walked away with a grand total of £22.90.
Dawn sneaking out to the pub after borrowing money put a dampener on all concerned and emotions were running at an all time low.
Reality hits:
After a barrage of advice and lectures from Jackie and Steve it seemed the message still wasn't getting through to Dawn and Richard, so it was time to call in the expert.
Although the couple knew their debts amounted to around £26,000 it wasn't until Lawrence Gold joined the family for a chat that attitudes changed. As well as calculating the exact figure owing, (a tidy £26,686.57), Lawrence made it clear that the couple would soon hit rocky times and would then be forced to go without.
When Dawn and Richard were told that it may be their children who would suffer, they woke up to their situation.
Slashing the spending:
The new way of thinking brought about some radical changes in Dawn and Richard. The first thing to be put under the microscope was their smoking habit. The pair visited a "smoking therapist" who gave them some cold, hard facts. He worked out that they have already spent £16,500 on cigarettes and would literally set alight another £111,000 in their lifetime. The cigarettes were cut up and, after a hypnosis session, Dawn and Richard gave life without smoking a go.
Steve took Richard to a cake decorating class where the pair laid icing like a couple of professionals, thus saving hundreds on a wedding cake and Dawn gave shopping a miss and took the children to the local swimming pool instead.
All in all the week ended on a positive note. Dawn and Richard seemed happier about the future; Dawn was even considering a delivery job to earn some extra cash. As Jackie and Steve packed their bags there was only one more job to do - cut up the credit cards, which they did with gusto!
