Unemployed ex-gambling addict has £30k of debt but uses his benefits to splurge £2,500 on washing machine and top-of-the-range computer he ‘doesn’t need’
David, 29, from Hartlepool and girlfriend Rebecca have £30,000 worth of loans and bills to pay off
TONIGHT’S episode of On Benefits & 40 Grand In Debt sees an unemployed dad-of-three with £30,000 of debt decide whether or not coming off benefits is “worthwhile”.
David, 29, from Hartlepool and girlfriend Rebecca have £30,000 worth of loans and bills to pay off, but half of their Job Seeker’s Allowance goes on paying off expensive household goods every month.
Ex-gambling addict David’s girlfriend Rebecca has had to take control of their £23,000 benefits to stop them getting into further debt.
David, who has been in-and-out of work for the last few years, says: “If I had the money I would just spend, spend spend.
“I just like going to the shops and buying stuff that I don’t need.”
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The couple have been spending thousands of pounds on things for their house using high interest loans.
Spends include a top of the range washing machine – that should only cost £700, but will set David and Rebecca back around £2,500 once interest is taken into account.
David has also bought himself a high spec computer which he uses mainly for gaming.
The computer will take three-years to pay off and with interest cost another £2,500.
“It’s 13 quid a week, we basically pay it every Saturday.”
But the spends add up and David is now spending around half of the couple’s £450 a month Job Seeker’s Allowance on paying off his household items.
He adds: “I don’t need it, but I like it and I’ve always had a computer.”
And it’s not just big spends that have caused the bills the rack up.
David used to be a gambling addict, which added to his debt.
David says: “I started gambling about six years ago, just went in the bookies one day didn’t have a clue what I was doing, I started winning money and I just got addicted to it.
“It’s destroyed my life; I wish I’d never laid eyes on the place.
But while David might regret his gambling, he is unrepentant when it comes to his £30,000 debt.
He says: “It’s not good to get loans out and that, my older brother would say ‘If you haven’t got, you should just not have’, but I say ‘you only live once’, so that’s what I think I do it for.”
David hasn’t had permanent work in years, but after job hunting online feels he may have found the perfect vacancy – as a delivery driver.
He says: “I love driving, so obviously I would like it, I won’t be stuck in one place or standing in a factory for eight hours a day, I’ll be out on the road – what I like doing.”
But, after visiting a seminar in Gateshead to find out more about the job and to see if he’s suitable, David leaves unimpressed by what he’s heard.
He’s also worried that being self-employed means that his pay-packet isn’t guaranteed and he begins to find the whole application process overwhelming.
The dad ends up thinking that he may be better off by signing on – and doesn’t take his application further.
He says: “If I took the job, it would make us worse off I reckon.
“They say there’s guaranteed work but when I’ve read reviews it doesn’t look worth it.
“I’ll just have to carry on and still look for work.”
And when it comes to paying off debt, birthdays and Christmas end up seeing the couple spend even more money – splurging £250 on each of their kids.
David says: “That’s like £750 on three kids.”
To fund the spending, David borrows even more money.
He adds: “We didn’t really want to but we wanted the extra money for the Christmas period.
“If I won the lottery, I would pay off all my debt.”
On Benefits & 40 Grand In Debt in on Channel 5, tonight at 8pm.