'I learned to be more careful with money'

KEIR Wright-Whyte says he will be more careful with his Christmas spending this year, not least because a recent career change has made him think about the future rather than just live for today.

A former accountant, he has retrained partly in Canada as a carpenter but admits that the habit of counting the pennies has stayed with him.

Probably for this reason, he had few problems when he recently applied for a Co-op credit card after deciding to switch a range of financial affairs to the bank.

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Keir, who lives in Edinburgh, said: "A few things were changing at work when I was an accountant, and when I thought about what kind of role I wanted for the future, I realised there was nothing I was enthusiastic about. The truth is I didn't like sitting at a desk all day.

"I have always been fascinated with traditional crafts, and went to work in Canada for a while as a carpenter. I enjoyed the experience and decided to continue in that line of work when I came home, for the time being at least."

Keir will be spending Christmas with his parents, who are both Scots but now live in Newcastle, and the rest of his family, but he will not be spending as freely as he once did. He said: "When I first came out of college I was quite a big spender, and Christmas would probably cost around 600 in presents for family and girlfriend. Now it'll be closer to 200.

"I am careful with money, and like to have a 500 buffer in my account at all times. When my friends say they are broke, they mean they haven't got a penny to their names. When I say I am broke, it means I have at least 500."

Keir opted for the Co-op because he liked its ethical ethos, and the fact that it was a mutual without shareholders. "I've had a credit card for nine years, but have always paid it off in full at the end of the month, so the interest rate doesn't matter to me," he added.