Credit Cards Online Information

PERUSING THE pages of amazon.co.uk for something to read (what else are you to do when eating lunch al desko?), I came across a book called Behind with the Mortgage and Living off Plastic (subtitled 'Charge up your life, not your credit card') by Lynette Allen.

Now, that sounds like the kind of information I need, so although it isn't published until 13 October, I used my powerful position as hack for hire to get an early copy " for your benefit, you understand, as much as mine.

It's a chunky little tome with plenty of pink on the cover (why do publishers think all women flock to fuchsia?) and the author pictured in a ballgown surrounded by glossy carrier-bags. Not a scenario I've ever found myself in, but I get the message, which is not so subliminally screaming: 'You are a spendaholic!' With a sky- high stack of credit-card statements and impending urgent winter- coats-for-children crisis, I think I should investigate.

Using Lynette's advice to close my eyes, picture what I'm worried about, then flick the pages randomly " the 'logic' being that it will fall open just where I need it most " I alight on a section titled Divine Intervention.
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Paraphrasing wildly, what follows is the story of Julia, up to her ears in debt and in crisis. Out of the blue, a friend calls and asks her how much money she would need to clear her debts. A great deal, Julia admits. The friend, it turns out, has been left a fortune, and will be only too happy to oblige. Julia, you see, needed an angel to give her a sign and, wings flapping, the angel appeared down a BT line.

If you are gagging on your Earl Grey at this heartwarming anecdote, you're like me. It's the kind of empowerment crap that fills acres of space in bookshops (which is why I was online rather than in Borders, where new age is the new everything).

But everyone deserves a fair chance, so I dived back in. In fact, little in the book is about finances, but there is a handy quiz for women to work out what kind of spender they are. Here's a sample: 'You've had the day from hell. You're leaving the office, hungry and cold, when you realise there's no food in the house. You nip into the nearest supermarket with the intention of buying dinner, but mysteriously find yourself in the clothes section, choosing a new pair of shoes to make yourself feel better " after all, you deserve it! a) Yes, I would do that; b) I have been known to do that occasionally; c) No, I wouldn't do that.'

Putting aside questions of how many neighbourhood supermarkets sell shoes, and whether any footwear bought there would really make you feel better, check out the advice. If you had pleaded guilty to this and the other rather obvious 'splurge or not' scenarios, you have an unmet emotional need that you are filling with purchases. I don't know about you, but the pair of shoes I bought yesterday (OK, it's a fair cop) were not an attempt to fill an emotional void, but the solution to the 'what shall I wear to Clare's wedding?' question.

Sorry, Lynette. I'm sure you're a very successful life coach and all, but I'd rather read the wise words of the experts on these very pages if I really want to sort out my credit cards.

And my advice to you, dear reader, if you like the thoughtful approach to making life better, is to read Lesley Garner's superb Everything I've Ever Done That Worked (Hay House, pounds 10), which has chapters about all areas of life that might be worrying you, including 'Make Friends with Money'. Her soundbite? 'It's always better to make it than take it.'

She has another section called 'Running Away Money', which isn't about the wallet-draining that seems to happen when I'm not looking. It's about keeping a little aside for whatever life throws at you " and that's the best advice of all.