Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Skint 2 in 5 use credit cards to buy everyday essentials
MORE than half of us are ending the decade deep in debt, with two in five using credit to pay for household essentials.
While nine million people owe between £2,000 and £10,000, almost five million are heading into the new year with debts above £10,000, excluding mortgages.
This Christmas pushed one in five into the red – and one in six are still struggling from previous years’ festive spending.
Four in 10 of those polled by money. co.uk blamed their financial woes on everyday living expenses.
The average credit card balance is £2,966, with men owing £3,138, compared to £2,793 for women. Most fear it will take three years on average to clear their debt and almost three quarters only make the minimum payment every month.
Finance expert Salman Haqqi said: “It’s sobering to think that almost 27 million
TWINS who starred in My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding have been found dead in woodland in a suspected double suicide.
Police were called to a remote country lane after a walker discovered the bodies of Billy and Joe Smith, 32.
Last night Gypsy Wedding star Paddy Doherty led tributes to the landscape gardeners who first appeared on the Channel 4 reality show in 2013.
He said: “RIP please pray for these two dear souls. May God look after them, may God have mercy on them, they are two angels, harmless.”
The twins’ family had expressed concern over their health.
Billy’s heartbroken partner Kristina Davey said: “Hardest day of my life. RIP my perfect Bill, you were so pure so lovely.
“You made me the happiest girl – did everything for me, showed me love I never had. I’m gonna make you so proud my Bill, my life, my angel.”
At a wedding earlier this month the brothers recorded a video as they sang and danced to Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You.
In one episode of Gypsy Wedding Billy and Joe were filmed working near their home in Kent.
They discussed their traveller lifestyle before getting married. The show even followed them on a trip to the holiday isle of Tenerife.
Facebook was full of tributes to the twins. One said: “Two young boys came in to the world together and left the world to heaven together sleep tight angels.
“Male depression really is as strong as any other and it should be made as aware as any other.
“They should feel like they can speak up like any other person.”
Police were called to a country lane just outside Sevenoaks, Kent, on Saturday morning.
A Kent Police spokesman said enquiries are ongoing but the deaths are not currently being treated as suspicious.
The mens’ next of kin are being kept updated. people will be heading into 2020 saddled with thousands of pounds of debt.
“One of the most concerning stats is that two in five people are using debt to pay for household essentials, simply unable to afford the cost of living from their regular income.”