compulsive spending

My son is a young adult diagnosed with  Tourettes Syndrome & Asperges.  He has  a fairly low IQ & now lives in the community with carer support.  His compulsion to spend is becoming a major problem -  his carers have  tried to help him budget but he usually argues & insists on shopping on the internet, & buying electronic gadgets & playstation games. 

Has anyone got any ideas on how to cope with this sort of compulsion?  He is now overdrawn & feeling miserable as now has no money to spend on Xmas presents & risks not being able to pay his rent & losing his Sky contract.  I am giving him a small amount to spend on family presents, but am very concerned that he will never break free from this cycle of constant craving for consumer items.

It would be so helpful if the banks could show some responsibility & limit the issuing of debit/credit cards to vulnerable people.  Does anyone know any helpful way in which obsessive spending can be controlled? 

 

Parents
  • Direct debits that come out on the first day of the month can help, as can having a standing order set up that takes x amount out an whatecer cycle the money goes in (e.g. every 4 weeks) and that amount goes into a separate account and it is that account from which DDs etc are paid and someone other than your son has the card (I kept a card for a friend at one point to protect her from serious debt. I think it helped that I lived the other side of London from her so she needed enough money to get to me to ask for the card!)

Reply
  • Direct debits that come out on the first day of the month can help, as can having a standing order set up that takes x amount out an whatecer cycle the money goes in (e.g. every 4 weeks) and that amount goes into a separate account and it is that account from which DDs etc are paid and someone other than your son has the card (I kept a card for a friend at one point to protect her from serious debt. I think it helped that I lived the other side of London from her so she needed enough money to get to me to ask for the card!)

Children
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