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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think this woman is mad getting into all this debt at Christmas???

85 replies

salsmum · 26/12/2013 23:34

It's a well known fact all these pay day loans charge massive interest..why didn't she just go to charity shops/cheap toy shops etc...surely it will be nice for her kids to have LOADS of pressies BUT in the long run they will suffer when she's stressed because she can't afford to pay the loans back Confused we were scraping to get by this Christmas (I lost 3 members of my family, including my children's Nan and Father)...AIBU to think she's wanting to give them TOO much??? www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2529393/Unemployed-mother-two-borrows-1-700-EIGHT-payday-loan-companies-buy-hundreds-Christmas-presents-children-says-pay-back.html

OP posts:
Sparklingbrook · 26/12/2013 23:36

There are no words.....

merryxmasyafilthyanimal · 26/12/2013 23:36

Well selling the story will earn her a few quid

I wouldn't assume the story is true anyway, either partially or in its entirety.

Snowhoho · 26/12/2013 23:37

I read this earlier on and couldnt figure out how she had managed to get pay day loans, where I assumed (rightly or wrongly) that you have to show proof of a wage, given it states she is unemployed?

pixiepotter · 26/12/2013 23:37

done link for you

pixiepotter · 26/12/2013 23:39

she won't pay them back will she.Simple as that.That is why the APR is so high, because of the high default rate.

Original poster
salsmum · 26/12/2013 23:40

Thank you Pixiepotter ...I'll get the hang of it one day lol x

OP posts:
frogspoon · 26/12/2013 23:40

I read this earlier on and couldnt figure out how she had managed to get pay day loans, where I assumed (rightly or wrongly) that you have to show proof of a wage, given it states she is unemployed?

I think the loan companies would count her benefits as an income.

But the story does sound a little over the top to be 100% true.

soverylucky · 26/12/2013 23:41

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

IamInvisible · 26/12/2013 23:43

I dread to think how much she is going to have to pay back.

She is mad. When I read it, it appeared she knew what she was doing when she took the loans on. However, the loan companies are absolute bastards and have absolutely no right in lending money like they do, especially not to people on benefits. She has no way of paying it back really.

The Government should be clamping down on this. It makes me feel sick that people are going to places like Wonga and paying such high interest rates while the government just sit back and watch it happen. It's so wrong.

VelvetSpoon · 26/12/2013 23:45

Loan companies should have some sort of stupidity filter to save idiots like this from themselves.

No child needs that many expensive presents. New Tv/DVD players can be bought for £100-150, you can get a bike for £60, or even less second hand. Even if she bought all that for both kids, it should still only cost less than a third of what she borrowed.

RandyRudolf · 26/12/2013 23:46

She won't have to pay back a penny if she chooses. Some of the companies might threaten court action if she doesn't pay up, maybe threaten bailiffs too. It won't be worthwhile taking her to court. I know a woman like her, on benefits who did the same thing and walked away from it all.

ImperialBlether · 26/12/2013 23:47

The government has been talking about fixing a maximum interest rate on these loans.

The Daily Mail has a photo of her and her children with the presents first thing on Boxing Day morning, which suggests the pictures were taken yesterday at the latest.

I think it's a set up. She took out 7 loans - so that'll add leverage to the argument that the number of loans should be limited. She's not working - so that'll add leverage to the argument that someone should have a job before taking out a loan.

Yesterday was far too early for the typical feelings of shame and regret to sink in AND for a phone call to the Mail to be made AND a visit made by a journalist/photographer.

I love how they threw in the fact her grandmother had died - oh yes, your child will need a HUGE number of presents to make up for that.

Snowhoho · 26/12/2013 23:47

Ah right frog didnt realise that. If this is true then shes obviously used numerous companies as surely no one company would lend that amount of money to someone on benefits.

NigellasDealer · 26/12/2013 23:48

silly story - v dodgy timing as set out by imperialblether -

merryxmasyafilthyanimal · 26/12/2013 23:50

Of COURSE it's a set up Grin

PetiteRaleuse · 26/12/2013 23:54

Set up. Look how happy she looks in the picture. I can guarantee she sold a story to them and they put a 'benefit scrounging single mum of mulicoloured kids' slant on it well against what she thought they would write.

Ignore.

fifi669 · 26/12/2013 23:54

She's a moron. Trying to blame the companies when she knew full well the interest rates and how much she'd be paying back. I have no sympathy for her whatsoever. You cut your cloth accordingly.

LineRunner · 26/12/2013 23:57

She's not a moron.

It's a set up.

kali110 · 26/12/2013 23:58

No sympathy either.

MidniteScribbler · 27/12/2013 00:02

No sympathy for many reasons, not least being 1) she used payday loans 2) she sooks about paying back a loan and 3) she went to DM to complain about those awful companies expecting her to pay back a loan. Dickhead.

RandyRudolf · 27/12/2013 00:03

I wonder if she bought them a trampoline too and perhaps a pet goat. Strange how there's no mention of a sky subscription though.

PigsInTinselToppedWellies · 27/12/2013 00:04

Gosh I must be a right tightwad. We have a good household income but I still felt I'd spent too much spending £200 (approx) on my 2 kids.

Handsup · 27/12/2013 00:13

It's the kids I feel sorry for - having their little faces in the Daily Mail with the readers all rubbing their hands together snearing. They're from a small town so I'm guessing locals will be snearing and pointing too.

perlona · 27/12/2013 00:58

Incredibly stupid and selfish, she's bragging that in January that she won't be able to pay her bills or feed her kids, does she expect people to be impressed with that?Hmm

I don't know whether I believe she spent that much tbh, surely she would have invested in a half decent tree and all the presents I see are the same ones in every photo, not nearly as many as claimed.

As for buying a three and eight year old a tv and dvd player each, ugh... I give up.

RandyRudolf · 27/12/2013 02:12

A colleague of mine bought her 3yr old and 7 yr old stepsons a tablet each this Christmas. She said both had to have them otherwise the 3yr old would cry and it would cause arguments. Seriously? What happened to sharing Hmm she's not exactly flush either, she was using her rent money to fund them. I think the world has gone mad!