You owe me one

Any short change left over and there is furniture to buy, paint to splash out on, never-before-thought-about insurance policies to take out.

And then, spookily, within weeks the letters start dropping through your door from companies which I can only assume have a built in "person suddenly short of money" sensor.

"Dear Miss Warman, Good news! You have been pre-approved for a loan."

I haven't had to make one phone call and I'm being offered several separate five-figure sums.

I am at the same time deluged with credit card offers.

Every time I purchase so much as a pair of socks I am asked if I would like to take advantage of some discount or other by signing up to a store card.

And having virtually lived at furniture stores over the past four weekends I can reel off how much credit I could have and for how long in my sleep.

Incredible as it seems today, older generations actually saved up for items they wanted.

There was of course less opportunity for credit.

But there has been one almighty shift in spending habits over recent years.

A "have now, pay later" culture has taken over.

My generation relies on credit and lives in debt.

It is not only accepted; it's expected.

Britain's personal debt mountain is increasing by an astonishing £1million every four minutes, according to the Bank of England.

Just as astounding, this time last year figures from the Citizens Advice Bureau revealed that almost one in four people with credit cards and loans had no idea how much they owed.

Seven weeks ago, the amount owed by consumers on cards, mortgages and loans broke through the £1trillion barrier for the first time.

Our spending is threatening to escalate out of control if it hasn't already.

Next week, a new television series Bank of Mum and Dad features young people drowning in debt - including two 23-year-olds, one with an income of £19,000 and debt of £14,000 and another who earns £17,000 and is £24,000 in debt - and turns to an older generation for help.

The BBC programme invites their parents to spend a week with them to assess the situation and, with the help of a financial advisor, instil some spending discipline.

Last year Bournemouth's CAB helped more than 2,000 people with combined debts totalling more than £9million. Much of that was credit debt.

Manager Martin Broad said there is a four to five week waiting list to see the two specific debt advisors.

They see people of all ages, but statistics show an increasing number of young people asking for help.

"The amount of credit debt in this country is huge," he said.

"It's not difficult for people to get credit, it hasn't been for some time.

"We do see a lot of young people and a lot of them would be those who are living with the prospect of having to pay off a student loan for a long time.

"To be 19 or 20 with that amount of loan to pay back and then have to live with all the ordinary expenses that brings, it is inevitable that people of that generation are going to face higher debt than their parents and grandparents."

And once in debt, it's easy to think you might as well be in more debt.

"We are not here as an organisation to pass judgement on anybody. What we want to do is help people."

Bournemouth University's student advice centre manager, Marina Lowrie, said younger people look at money quite differently.

"You see something and can get it now and pay later. That's very different from the way parents and grandparents looked at things."

She said 90 per cent of students are in debt.

Today, the average cost of getting a degree is £20,000.

In 2010, when top-up fees are introduced, she said the cost would rise to around £33,000.

Far from orange, it seems the future is in the red.

WILL Page calls himself one of the lucky ones.

He is 23 years old and was £12,000 in debt when he graduated recently.

Now president of Bournemouth University's student union, he is £11,000 in debt.

"I'm one of the lucky ones. I have gone straight into a full time job and have a direct debit into a savings account."

He said his living costs were relatively low during his four-year landscape and geographical sciences course and he worked to help support his studies.

He knows of students who are close to £20,000 in debt.

He said the university prospectus puts the cost of living in Bournemouth for the 41-week academic year at between £6,500 and £7,500.

"That doesn't include tuition fees. The maximum student loan is £4,000, so even looking at the minimum living cost you have to find another £2,500. That's absolutely disgraceful."

He said his parents always told him not to spend what he hasn't got, but said he would be less worried about borrowing money having spent years in debt than he was before he started university.

"Obviously it would be a concern and I would look at the terms and conditions carefully. But I would be much more inclined to borrow money now.

"The way my generation looks at money is very different. You expect to get into debt now to get on. In the past being in debt was seen as a bad thing. Now everybody has to do it, apart from the very rich of course."