After 23 years working for the council, 55-year old Yomi switched from temping to a more secure post, anxious to ensure he had steady work at a time of rising redundancies. As a result, his income dropped from £46K to £28K. When his eldest child began university, Yomi took out a Wonga loan of £400 towards accommodation costs. He says, “I started seeing these advertisements on television, on the buses. I wasn’t looking too much at the small print. I was surprised they didn’t refuse me. The way I saw it at the time, I thought, I am in financial turmoil and they are able to help me.” Yomi was already having difficulty making ends meet, so he had to take out a second loan until payday. “Once you start it,” he says, “you don’t stop. Unless something happens, you have to go back for another loan to bridge the gap.” He calculates he has now paid around £1,500 in interest to a variety of lenders, because of his initial decision to borrow the £400. He says, “I worry about it all the time. I have sleepless nights. I haven’t told my son. I’m trying not to push my anger on to my kids. I go into my shell.”