Shropshire Star comment: We must live within our means

Others will quickly fill the void in a competitive market place as people continue to live beyond their means. Wonga were simply out-manoeuvred and out-thought by their rivals.

And the slack generated by Wonga will be taken up by those who are fitter and more competitive.

Many will find Wonga and companies like them to be unsavoury; broadly speaking, they are perceived to charge high rates of interest, frequently to vulnerable members of society who later get in debt. And while it is perfectly right that individual clients take responsibility for their actions, rather than payday loan companies, their attractive advertisements mask the pitfalls and difficult outcomes.

Yet perhaps we ought not to shoot the messenger. Wonga and others who continue to operate in that space were created to fill a gap. They are not responsible for the avaricious nature of society – they are simply responding to it.

We live in an age where people not only try to keep up with the Joneses, they try to surpass them. From TVs to trainers, from cars to washing machines; we live in an age of mass consumerism where people habitually are unsatisfied and seek more.

Budgeting

Things were much different in generations past, of course. Those who had little adopted the principles of make-do and mend. They did not sell the family silver nor take on loans that they could not afford.

The art of family budgeting seems to be lost on many. And the cycle of debt, depression, family breakdown and worse is all too familiar.

There are perfectly good reasons why some get into debt, of course, and society must lend a helping hand.

Credit unions are established to provide assistance to those most in need. They offer a different type of service to payday loan companies and are run on different principles.

And yet at the heart of the matter is greed. We must, as a society, learn not to seek more than is sustainable. There is little point in people gunning for more when they cannot pay it back.

Whether at Governmental level, where excessive debt leads to periods of austerity, or at home, where over-spending leads to debt, we must only ever spend within our means.