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I sent an e-mail to Simon, privately and would not have added anything except Simon has touched on a very important subject, one of managing money.It is almost unforgivable to admit that you have difficulty with money, which is probably why so many people run into difficulty and find themselves in mounting debt, before they are forced to seek help.I think Simon is being very wise in identifying he might have difficulty in taking on the responsibility of managing his money and in asking for help or advice to stop that from happening.I bumped in to an old neighbour a while ago and when asking after his family heard that one had committed suicide after taking out loans which nobody knew about apart from the Bank who it appears were positively gleeful in handing out dosh without even contacting the partner.It is far too easy to obtain money without understanding the responsibility of handling it and although the notion of people being handed the money to hand on to the landlord is sound, some people just cannot handle the management and will get into trouble.  The financial system should allow for this and maybe allow for an account into which housing money is paid and where it can only be removed through regulated withdrawals.My own moans are the huge amounts of money thrown at students in lump sums - I keep hearing tales of students spending madly on receipt of the money - and the account card salespeople who insist on approaching me inside a store to tell me I can have £1000 to spend today!  I always tell them I object to them approaching me and that if people need it, they should have to seek it out to get the best deals rather than snap it up when they are most vulnerable.

Sarah Felstead ● 6378d