Katie Price has bailiffs at the door: why?

Katie Price told an audience at The School of Life that she regularly has bailiffs knocking at the door. For a celebrity who is estimated to be worth more than £40 million, this is an astonishing admission, which reveals how Price has fallen for the two great financial lies of her generation.

The businesswoman was talking about her approach to money and life. The Sun reported that she told the audience that she's not the kind of person who is careful with money, plans for the future, and pays her bills on time. As a result, she says she is constantly finding debt collectors on the doorstep.

Katie Price pays kids for being on TV

During her talk, the Mirror said she blamed the fact she 'lives for the moment'. However, she also admitted that she feels the stress of being the breadwinner for her five children, and not knowing where the next paycheque is coming from.

Hounded by debt collectors? What can you do?

In reality, Price shouldn't need sleepless nights. She has a large business empire, which is bringing in enough cash to ensure the family is looked after. She has re-signed for Loose Women, which is a regular paycheque, and she has established herself as the name behind enough successful novels and fragrances to know there are a fair few of them left to live off.

She also has enough equity in her property to protect her. All she really needs is a reliable and capable financial adviser to plan for the future, and an assistant to ensure the bills get paid - both of which she can afford.

The great money lies

However, her approach mirrors that of millions of people in the UK - who have believed two terrible falsehoods about money - and who could end up paying a horrible price.

The first is that 'living in the moment' is an option - even when you're 38 like Katie Price is.

Generally it tends to be younger people who are branded the YOLO (you only live once) generation. In fact a study by RateSetter in September revealed that 60% of those aged 18-30 prioritised spending their money on going out, fashion and luxuries over saving for the future, as a result a quarter of them have not put a penny aside.

However, as Price demonstrates, this approach is being adopted by older people too - through their 30s and 40s. A Scottish Widows study earlier this year found that more than a third of those aged between 35 and 49 didn't save a penny in the previous year, and that 45% have ditched future savings pans in favour of splashing the cash today.

If you intend to be retired for 30 years, how can it possibly be OK to start thinking about saving for retirement when you only have 30 years left at work?

The other is that 'being bad with money' is an option - at any stage of life.

Again, Price is far from alone in throwing her hands in the air and claiming not to be that kind of person. The RateSetter study showed that 62% of people claimed to be clueless about money matters. According to SunLife, only 47% of people in the UK work to a household budget, and 17% have only either a very rough idea of what they have left to spend - or no idea at all.

Part of the problem is that who are good with money are branded as boring, and those who live for the moment are considered exciting and spontaneous. However, ask anyone (who isn't a millionaire) who has had the bailiffs round - and has no idea where their next paycheque is coming from - and they'll tell you exactly how exciting and spontaneous they feel.

The other issue is that people think they can opt out of being sensible with money. In a world where we are expected to take responsibility for everything from student debt to buying expensive houses and saving for our retirement, nobody can afford to opt out. Those who think they can - and feel like thy are getting away with it - are kidding themselves, and are in for a horrible shock when they want to retire.

Because while Price may have enough cash to fend off any issues she has neglected, most of us can only dream of being so fortunate.