Chameleon Magazine

In November 2025, Brits collectively said, “To hell with the budget!” and whipped out their credit cards like they were golden tickets to Wonka’s chocolate vault. Consumer credit borrowing hit a juicy £2.1 billion—faster, harder, and more enthusiastic than anyone (even Reuters) expected. Mortgage borrowing nudged upward too, because apparently, there’s no such thing as “too broke to borrow” in this economy.

💳 Credit Cards, Mortgages & Delusion: A British Tragedy in Monthly Installments

Picture this: household budgets strangled by inflation, wages doing a slow crawl behind bills, and savings accounts flatter than a pint left out overnight. But hey, what’s a little existential financial dread when you’ve got a shiny credit card and the sweet, sweet lie of “buy now, pay never?”

Yes, consumer credit is growing at its fastest pace in years. Credit card balances are ballooning like they’ve been force-fed an all-you-can-eat subscription to despair. Meanwhile, mortgage borrowing is tiptoeing back up, even as approvals ease—because clearly, people are determined to own a home and a crippling debt burden.

“But wait,” says the cautious economist in the back. “Household debt-to-income ratios are actually down since 2022!” True. Because after maxing out on debt for a decade, people either finally reined it in—or ran out of room on their cards. And now that slight progress is being reversed one cheeky impulse purchase and unaffordable semi-detached at a time.

So we’re back in the same leaky boat: running up consumer debt while praying mortgage rates behave. It’s not an economic strategy. It’s a national anxiety spiral with a contactless payment option. 😵‍💫💷

🚨 Challenges 🚨

Why are we partying like it’s 2008 again? What’s pushing people to borrow more just to keep treading water? Rage, rant, or share your own survival hacks—jump into the comment section and unload. 🧠📣