Nearly 5 million Brits rely on credit cards to pay household bills according to new research. Moneysupermarket.com found that 2.5 million cardholders also withdraw cash on their cards, incurring collective annual charges of up to £90 million.

The research found that, while over half of Brits (55%) use their plastic to fund big ticket items such as TVs and DVD players, spenders are also regularly using their plastic to pay for other everyday transactions such as grocery shopping (43%) and buying petrol (38%).

The many and various attacks on Nick Clegg this week have been both novel and creative, but the one that risked hurting him most badly was the revelation that three private backers had paid £19,690 into his private bank account between January 2006 and January 2008.

He responded by announcing that he had paid £20,437 from his account into party coffers between March 2006 and February 2008 for staffing costs, leaving him £747 out of pocket. And he released his bank accounts to the press to prove it.

It effectively punctured that particular scandal. But it was a high risk move. Our bank statements hold all sorts of secrets about us, and our money managing skills (or lack of them) so what does your statement say about you?

It's hard to believe money doesn't buy happiness. The old quote about it buying a better class of misery shows that we're not completely convinced that given a few million we couldn't find a way to be happy.

But multi-millionnaire 50 Cent, worth a staggering £250 million has admitted 'I don't think it will ever be enough."

He claims his tough upbringing has given him this attitude. But the feeling of never quite being rich enough isn't restricted to people who have had it tough. Everyone is cursed with the feeling that everything would be OK if they just had a little more cash.

So how do you beat the feeling?

Somehow the simplest financial rule is always the hardest: never spend more than you earn. We all have times when a mini splurge here and a minor mistake there tips us the wrong side of this balance, it's perfectly understandable... eh Nicolas Cage?

It's all very easy to do, a Bavarian castle here and a lavish property in Wiltshire there, a car park full of vintage cars, and lavish exotic holidays for you and your entourage and would you believe it, the millions runs dry.

Michael Jackson dead eh, who'd have thought it?

When I heard the news last night it was so unexpected I assumed it was the build-up to a particularly bad-taste joke. It was just so unexpected.

Now this is going to sound a bit heartless, but this sad news should get us all thinking about money.

If you're trying to book a summer holiday, and you're finding the array of travel websites a bit overwhelming, this should make your life a lot easier. I've selected a few of my favourite travel websites that will help you find the very best deal on every aspect of your holiday from the flights to the currency.

In the long run, the battle of the sexes is going to be won by men. Somehow in the fight for equality, women have decided to reserve certain rights. We are allowed to wear inappropriate shoes, which stop us from indulging in anything practical; we are allowed to delegate any task involving spiders; and we can excuse ourselves from the hideousness of considering how we're going to afford our glamorous retirement.

But we are going to pay a terrible price for hiding away from our financial future.

There is only one way to avoid this: we need to think about the p-word without getting bogged down in anything technical or complicated – and we need to find a solution that's not going to cripple us financially.