My friend's husband has moved out and has taken her mobile phone with him. He has run up a bill of over £1,000, which she can't afford to pay. She has recently received a demand from a debt collecting company for the amount owed. What should she do?

I am a student on a four-year course, and my debts have grown to £30,000. I've written to my credit card companies asking them to accept lower monthly repayments and they all accepted, but I can no longer afford even this. I feel sick with worry. What can I do?

I have debts of £19,000, no assets and recently had to leave work, which means that my only income is £53.95 a week. Is my only option to declare myself bankrupt?

I have recently applied for credit and was turned down, even though I have never paid a bill late and don't have any debts. I now think that the problem stems from the fact that my brother, who lived with me for 12 months at my house, ran up considerable credit card and loan debts while he was at my house. Could it be that his financial problems have affected me?

When my boyfriend and I separated last year I decided to carry on living in our flat, even though it was a bit of a struggle to pay the rent on my own. Since then, I have been having trouble with my debts. Is there any advice you can give me?

I owe £6,400 at 0.6% per month on my credit card, for which I pay £200 per month. I also have a loan on which I owe £3,400, which I am repaying at £147 per month. Do you think I should get one loan to pay these two off?

A week ago I received a letter from a debt-collecting agency telling me that I had owed £2,800. Now they want me to pay it all back in 48 hours, which I cannot do, or they will send in the bailiffs. What should I do?