Not a happy lot

Alistair is a 21-year-old police constable. He has five credit cards - a Barclaycard, a Lloyds Platinum card and three store cards. He says that this is 'too many' and tries to limit his use of them.

'I usually pay off my balance at the end of the month, unless I forget,' he says. He's buying a house and the mortgage is his only debt - he didn't go to university.

The key-worker living scheme, a government initiative helping people in certain professions buy or rent houses, has made it possible for him to start on the property ladder.

'Without the scheme I couldn't have afforded the house,' he says. 'I'm very lucky to have a job which offers this help, as rent is just money down the drain.'

Any savings he did have were used to pay the mortgage and buy furniture for the house, but he does have a pension scheme as part of his job.