Top 10 ways to get into debt

Pop superstar Sir Elton John once spent £30m in just under two years - an average of £1.5m a month. The singer's lavish lifestyle saw him spend more than £9.6m on property and £293,000 on flowers between January 1996 and September 1997. The figures were revealed as the 53-year-old singer was giving evidence in a multi-million pound contract battle. When asked about his spending habits, Sir Elton explained 'Yes, I like flowers'. Simple as that.

If you like flowers, too, or fast cars and diamonds for that matter, then you too can taste the delights of a life of luxury. It's easy. Just spend, spend, spend. Who wants to be a millionaire? The real question is, who needs to be one? These days you can grab more credit than you know what to do with and go wild.

That is exactly what Essex painter and decorator Howard Walmsley did. After falsely claiming to his wife that he was the lucky winner of a lottery jackpot of £8.4 million, the 43-year old went on to con banks, a solicitor, an architect, a car firm, and two women friends. He even promised to buy a £300,000 farmhouse, which prompted the couple who owned it to move into a caravan to speed up the sale. He commissioned an architect to draw up plans for an extension with a swimming pool but when the cheque he gave the solicitors bounced, his deception began to unravel. In the meantime, he began an affair and borrowed a new car and £8,000 from his lover on the understanding it was to be used a deposit on the new four-bedroom detatched house they would share. Walmsley then shared the car with wife Kathy and showered her with gifts to keep up the pretence of his 'millionaire' status. Needless to say it did not end happily and Walmsley was jailed for three years in 2001 but is now back with his wife.

Fraud aside, here are 10 crazy ways to dig yourself into debt as quickly as possible. Don't try these at home...

1. Call your bank and request the biggest overdraft and personal loans they can give you. Don't worry about how you will repay it all and never mind about shopping around for a better deal - why would you?

2. Fill in every application for a credit card or loan which drops through your letter box.

3. Then get online and fill in a few more. Who knows, if you apply for all of them at the same time, you can get your mitts on the money before your credit rating nosedives.

4. Go shopping. Take as much stuff as you can carry to the till and within about five seconds you will be offered a store card. Fill in the application immediately. It's great fun - especially when they shout all your personal details down the phone to head office. If you are offered 10% of your purchases that day, make sure you do another few circuits of the shop so you can buy more and bump up your 'savings'. The best part is, you don't have to pay for it all for months or maybe years.

5. Repeat step 4, above, in every shop on the high street. Make sure you don't miss out on any 'buy now - pay later' deals which will allow you to scoop up electrical goods without having to spend a penny. Yet. Don't forget to buy extended warranties on everything.

6. Time for a new house to reflect your A-list spending power. Take out the biggest mortgage you can get - anything over 110% of the value of the property should do. Throw in some mortgage payment protection cover for good measure - you don't need to tell them you are about to be made redundant.

7. By now, your credit cards and loans should be arriving. Don't forget that if you need cash, you can use your credit cards to make withdrawals - it will cost a fortune but who cares? Time to shop. Again. Why not take your loans and plastic on holiday and max the lot in New York followed by a relaxing break in Las Vegas.

8. Bills have arrived? Don't waste those loans. Ask your mortgage lender to extend your home loan. And remember, only pay off the minimum amount on any credit cards. The rest can wait.

9. Ah, stocks and shares. Now you are really wheeling and dealing. You don't even have to know anything about them - your friend in the pub is handling the whole thing.

10. What better way to have something to show for all that cash than to treat your family and friends to a big party. Money is no object so opt for fountains filled with Cristal Champagne. They will love it and it means you stand a good chance of being able to sleep on their sofas if the need should arise. Plus you will get lots of visitors when you are in jail. Or the Priory.