12-year-old runs up $1,300 FarmVille debt

A little boy has recently racked up some big debt, playing the extremely popular Facebook game, FarmVille. The game has a function that allows players to buy in-game coins for real-world money and this young farmer managed to run up about a thousand pounds worth of debt on his mother’s credit card. His mother is now hoping that her tale of debt woe will serve as a warning to other parents, to watch what their children get up to on these social networking games.

FarmVille is currently one of the most popular games on Facebook, with well over 80 million users. The idea behind it is that each new farmer is given some virtual funds to start a farm. They then use this funding to grow crops which they can then sell for more pretend money and recycle it into their farm. However, trading on the impetuousness of the average internet user, FarmVille offers the ability to buy extra virtual money with real-life credit.

As the boy lives with his mother, Zynga – the makers of FarmVille – have refused to offer any kind of refund as they feel it is the responsibility of the parent to monitor a child’s online activity and look after their credit card. In addition to this, children under the age of 13 are not permitted onto the social networking site, so Facebook has disabled the boy’s account and refuse to take any responsibility for his actions. Although the woman does blame her son, she feels there should be some portion of the blame laid on Facebook as she feels they weren’t acting responsibly. Ultimately, she feels that her son was using another person’s credit card and that should flag some kind of security. In addition to that, the secure payment filter is bypassed for payments on Facebook.

This case highlights the importance of looking after your credit card, the dangers of online transactions and most clearly, the unique routes into debt that can happen suddenly and without warning. Financial circumstances are subject to unexpected change and this is when bad debt can begin to mount up. Talking to a dedicated financial advisor can help you to react quickly in the event of these unforeseen circumstances, helping you to avoid severe debt problems. The sooner you get in touch with a dedicated debt advisor and tell your creditors about the potential struggle in meeting repayments, the more likely of you are of reaching a mutually beneficial conclusion.

The face value of tickets to World Cup Games is supposedly between about £50 and £80. We all know that they’ll be changing hands for a lot more than that though. At the time of writing, that popular online auction site had one ticket to see England versus the USA with a reserve of £350. There’s no doubt that following your country to the World Cup Finals is an expensive business. There are also those people for whom such a once in a lifetime opportunity is worth the money. So, watching England in the World Cup: priceless?

On top of the ticket price, there are all of those other expenses to consider too. For starters, getting to South Africa, if you can find a seat on a flight out there, is going to be an expensive proposition. Accommodation will be at a premium too, with footie fans from all over the world descending on the Rainbow Nation. Let’s just say that’s all done though. It was expensive but worth it. You’re there and you want to phone home to tell everyone just how good it is. Well, the watchdog Consumer Focus has warned that fans could be paying in excess of £100 to make calls and send texts on match day.

The team leaves the tunnel, the sun is shining and the flags are flying. You want to post a photo or two, to show those that couldn’t make the trip what they’re missing. Not so fast, the highest charges could well be for mobile phone users that upload their photos or videos to social networking sites. You could find that the charges for data and mobile internet could range from just over £1 to £8 for each megabyte.

All of this means that you must check the rates applied by your service provider before you go. If you pay your mobile phone bill by direct debit, you could find that you return from watching the World Cup in South Africa with substantial charges having been applied to your account. This could push your account into the red, meaning overdraft charges and even the possibility of missed payments that could seriously affect your credit rating. We are keen for you to bear in mind that the implications of this can be serious and long lasting so make sure you know where you stand with your network charges. It’s also important to remember that the charges are going to be a lot higher than they are when travelling in Europe. Look into extra data bundles and other money saving angles before you leave.

The finance specialists at Debtsolver have picked out some of the key points from the 2010 Budget and outlined the ways in which they could affect those facing mounting debt. For more information on how to solve your debt problem or how your debt could be affected by the Budget, visit www.debtsolver.co.uk.

• For first time home buyers, the stamp duty on all properties worth up to £250,000 will be suspended for the next two tax years. To compensate for this, a higher rate of stamp duty will be applied to properties worth more than £1m from 2011.
• For those whose financial situation has changed unexpectedly, by losing their job for example, the Support for Mortgage Interest scheme will maintain its present higher rate for another six months.
• As of 2012, any parents with children two or under will receive an additional £4 a week in child tax credit.
• The winter fuel allowance for pensioners will stay at £250 (£400 for those over 80) for another year.
• The Budget also outlined the Chancellor’s desire for everyone to have access to a bank account. Over the next five years, one million of the 1.75 million people without a bank account will have access to a basic account. This type of account allows you to have a debit card but no access to an overdraft facility.
• In terms of your spending, duties are set to rise. Fuel duty went up by a penny in April, with a further increase of a penny in October and another to follow next January.
• The forecast increase to the tax on alcohol has already taken effect but there will also be an increase of 2% above inflation between 2013 and 2015. The one exception is cider, which has already gone up by 10% above inflation.
• Tobacco duty has gone up by 1% above inflation and will go up by 2% above inflation every year until 2014.

Taking account of the increase in duty is essential to better money management. Even small changes can throw your budget out and become incrementally more damaging to your financial situation. Of course, everyone’s circumstances are different so if you are facing debt problems and are unsure what impact the budget will have on you, visit www.debtsolver.co.uk and take the free, no obligation debt health check.

If we consider the end of 2009 to the turning point in the UK’s economy, where the recession gave way to recovery and the green shoots of economic growth began to inspire confidence, then 2010 should be a year for prudent financial planning and a more savvy approach to spending. With personal finance remaining at the forefront of our collective psyche, money saving tips and budgeting ideas are much sought after. Essentially, being thrifty is cool and those in the know read the right blogs.

Inspiring lifestyle choices that can save us money; helpful advice on dealing with our debt and tips on how to spend more ethically are welcomed with open arms and passed around with confidence. This list of the top ten personal finance blogs highlights the audience’s enthusiastic response to the more personal approaches to building a recession beating budget. This is most glaring when we look at perhaps the more frivolous end of consumer spending. If you are living with debt or simply find it hard to justify this kind of spending when those around you are dealing with mounting debt problems, money saving tips are even more valuable.

Cision claim that these are the ten most popular and influential personal finance blogs in the UK. Whether you agree with this assessment or not, they are a great place to start when addressing your spending habits and dealing with your debt. Bringing your finances back under control is an important part of talking your debt, as is a responsible approach to spending. This will help you stay out of debt when you find the solution that clears your feet. To help you with that step, Debtsolver have professional, impartial debt advisors on hand.

1. The Motley Fool
2. Plonkee Money
3. Miss Thrifty
4. The Money Hospital
5. interactive investor
6. Money Saving Blog
7. Money Watch
8. Personal Finance Advice
9. No More Spending
10. Single Broke Female

Lindsay Lohan has certainly developed a reputation for spending like a movie star. Sadly though, her CV doesn’t stand up to the spending. Her last successful film was 2004’s Mean Girls and her most recent, Labor Pains, was a straight to DVD under achiever. As her acting career has been enduring this quiet spell, she has actually been featuring more and more on the Hollywood social scene. However, rather than starring in front of movie cameras, it’s paparazzi lenses and the small screen that have kept Lindsay Lohan in the social spotlight.

In that movie star tradition of keeping up appearances and maintaining a reputation, whether positive or negative, Lindsay’s party antics and spending habits have ensured she’s never short of column inches.

The 23 year old Lohan has been reported as having been cut off by one credit card company when her outstanding credit card debt passed the $600,000 mark. Admittedly, the credit situation for actors is a difficult one. The nature of the business is unreliable and the income is inherently random. The availability of credit is important to a lot of us and celebs feel this more acutely than most. When there’s no work coming in, profile can soon drop off and maintaining a high public profile can be so important to landing the work.

Lindsay supplemented her acting income by making appearances at clubs but these are less prevalent these days. Sadly, as her celeb status has waned, the invites have started to dry up. It’s not happened over night though. This has been an ongoing process and Lindsay should have got some debt help before the situation got to this stage. She fell a couple of months behind with her rent recently and was threatened with eviction.

If only Lindsay Lohan lived in the UK. Her credit card debt of $600,000 would definitely qualify her for an IVA. Unsecured debt of at least £15,000 that’s divided between at least three creditors would allow her to apply for an Individual Voluntary Arrangement that would free her from the burden of mounting debt. She could’ve gone to www.debtsolver.co.uk, quickly taken the free, impartial financial health check and been prescribed a course of treatment for her debt problem. It’s not too late though. Of course, the sooner you get debt help the better. So, if you’re in debt, don’t do like Lindsay Lohan. Drop by www.debtsolver.co.uk today.