Your Money or Your Life Episode Guide

Episode Guide

• Ashley and Michelle Moon

  Ashley and Michelle Moon are a couple with a smart new home, a trendy designer lifestyle : and debts of #15,000. They are expecting their first baby any day now and want to live the life of luxury they are accustomed to, but with a possible redundancy looming, changes are going to have to be made. As Michelle ponders motherhood and dreams of a new business, expert Alvin Hall steps in to offer his advice

• Bankruptcy

  Alvin Hall shares his wisdom with a businesswoman in Altrincham who has had a recent run of bad luck as the boutique she owned was forced to close through lack of custom and the death of her long-term partner. Can his cost-cutting advice help her to look forward rather than back, and will she be able to avoid bankruptcy in the process?

• Be Your Own Boss

  Two stylish young entrepreneurs brimming with ideas and enthusiasm ask economic expert Alvin Hall's advice on how to reap the rewards from their graphic design company in Portsmouth, and are surprised to discover that their problems are due to personal flaws and not their business plan

• Careering Apart

  Financial expert Alvin Hall visits young couple Natalie and Craig in Poole, Dorset, to help them come to an agreement about managing their finances. Natalie is proud of the way she handles their money, but Alvin thinks she may be holding onto the purse strings a little too tightly : especially as Craig can't even go for a meal without working out the costs in advance

• Careering Apart?

  Economic expert Alvin Hall travels to Poole in Dorset to help a young couple struggling to cope with their finances. Twenty-two-year-old Natalie is proud of her money-management skills, but the financial wizard is concerned that she may be keeping 29-year-old boyfriend Craig on too tight a leash : he can't even go out for a meal without checking the cost

• Debbie and Jonathan Smith

  Financial expert Alvin Hall meets Debbie and Jonathan Smith, a couple whose spending has spiralled out of control since they started a family. Over a seven-year period they've borrowed #90,000, leaving them nowhere near enough money to buy a house near a better school : can Alvin steer them back to the straight and narrow?

• Diversify

  Financial expert Alvin Hall goes back to his agricultural roots to advise the owners of a Worcestershire sheep farm on how to generate more income from their most valuable asset : 100 acres of land

• Elisabeth Cadman

  Financial expert Alvin Hall offers words of wisdom to a woman in her twenties who has racked up over #8,000 of debt and frequently has to turn to her parents for help. Will she be able to sort out her money problems and stand on her own two feet?

• First Baby

  Alvin Hall goes to Guildford to help out parents Emily and David Phipps. Emily can't decide whether to return to work after the birth of her baby, and her situation is complicated by the fact that the couple each have their own separate finances : she doesn't even know how much David earns. Alvin hopes to make them see that, now their responsibilities have changed, their financial situation needs to be adjusted accordingly

• For Richer, For Poorer

  Expert Alvin Hall offers his help to Angela Green, who is struggling to cope after the collapse of her husband's business : shortly followed by the break-ups of her marriage and her closest friendship. With her resources drained, she can no longer afford to pay the mortgage

• Fresh Start

  A couple are close to realising their dream of owning a second-hand bookshop in Tiverton, Devon, and raising a family, but when Alvin Hall looks at the figures, he makes them face their financial reality. It is one they didn't want to hear as it doesn't allow for books and babies

• A Fresh Start

  Economic expert Alvin Hall offers financial advice to a couple who are trying to juggle their dream of owning and running a second-hand bookshop with that of having children : is there any way they can achieve both ambitions?

• Gambling on the Future

  Alvin Hall hears from a man who dreams of living a rock 'n' roll lifestyle, complete with fast cars, expensive clothes and all-night parties. However, when he finally meets 25-year-old Alex Mavroidakis, Alvin finds he still lives at home with his mum and has run up thousands of pounds worth of debt

• Hidden Debts

  Alvin Hall visits the home of Jill Bowen who recently discovered her husband had run up debts totalling £33,000. The economic expert soon discovers that after 14 years of marriage they have little idea about each other's attitude to money and can't even agree on whether to pay back what they owe

• Marie Mulcahy

  Alvin Hall meets Londoner Marie Mulcahy who has accumulated debts of #17,000 since the breakdown of her 12-year relationship. Can the financial expert help get her moving toward a more secure future?

• Marriage

  Alvin Hall advises Zoe Biggs, a city slicker who is about to give up her #80,000-a-year income to marry her fiance Dick Holifield and move to Exeter. As they tot up the costs of the wedding ceremony, Alvin questions the couple on whether they are fully aware of how the financial drop will affect them

• Marriage and Communication

  Alvin Hall visits a Lancashire couple eager for help improving their credit rating. However, he soon realises the main problem is their inability to see eye-to-eye on family finances, so he must stop them arguing long enough to work his money-magic and offer them an alternative means of managing their money

• Mike and Jacqui Tomkins

  Financial expert Alvin Hall attempts to help Mike and Jacqui Tomkins, who would love to start a new life in Australia but are struggling to cope with combined debts of #40,000. Alvin reveals how they will have to adapt their current marital roles if they hope to achieve their dream

• Retiring Abroad

  Alvin Hall offers his own brand of advice to a Sussex couple who dream of moving to France to enjoy their retirement, but are concerned they will overspend : and fear the language barrier will prevent them from solving any financial problems they may encounter

• Revisit

  A year after he first gave them advice, Alvin Hall revisits Wendy Berry to find out if her spending is under control, and whether the new bookshop owners in Tiverton have survived

• Richard Walden

  Spendthrift PR manager Richard has used his credit cards to furnish him with all his heart desired, including designer clothes, fine wines and cocktails every night : but how can the good times keep rolling, and how will he repay his debts now he's about to be made redundant? Expert Alvin Hall steps in to dispense advice

• Sheila O'Neill

  Sheila O'Neill is the Head of History in a London comprehensive, and has amassed debts totalling #46,000. By her own admission, she feels the problem arose from her frivolous twenties : a hectic social life, and constantly treating herself. Can expert Alvin Hall intervene in time to save her from bankruptcy?

• Shopping to Forget

  Finance expert Alvin Hall travels to Weston-super-Mare to help 20-year-old Bryony Long budget her pay cheque so she can still afford to eat healthily by the end of the month. As he digs deeper into her life, he realises other issues lie at the root of her over-spending

• Simulating Success

  Alvin Hall meets James Stevenson, who is in debt despite owning a business which brings in more than £100,000 a year. The financial expert tries to stop the 28-year-old entrepreneur from spending the profits as soon as he earns them, encouraging him instead to save for the day when his venture stops generating as much money

• The Spending Circle

  Alvin Hall comes to the aid of a Chelmsford couple who lost their last home owing to redundancy and overspending. After disposing of more than their £60,000 annual income, Helen and Garry Toplis seem to be repeating all the same mistakes

• Sue Richards

  Financial expert Alvin Hall offers words of wisdom to 48-year-old Sue Richards, whose comfort spending spiralled out of control after the death of her partner. Too upset to face going back to work at the business she set up with her brother, she is now in a precarious situation : can Alvin help turn her life around?

• Two Years On

  Two years ago, economic expert Alvin Hall gave Sue and Peter Taylor advice on how to rid themselves of #7000 of debts caused by a combination of bad organisation and manic spending. In this one-off special, the financial wizard visits the couple to see if they have acted on his words of wisdom and learned to manage their money

• Two Years On

  Alvin Hall revisits Peter and Sue Taylor, a couple who had built up debts of around #7,000 due to a combination of bad financial organisation and gross overspending. Disappointingly, the situation doesn't seem to have improved in the long term, with the credit card bills continuing to flood in despite Sue's promise to curb her reckless habits. Can Alvin take the pair in hand, or are they headed for financial disaster : again?

• Unplanned Baby

  Twentysomething casino workers Lisa and Ian Carlyon request economic expert Alvin Hall's help to settle their mounting debts which, exacerbated by the large mortgage payments on a new house and the unexpected news that twins are on the way, have turned their financial security into a game of Russian roulette

• Vesna Howarth and Stuart Liddle

  Alvin Hall returns for a new series of the personal finance show with a human touch. The first instalment sees a Halifax family in need of sound advice as they struggle to make ends meet after buying their first home. Can Alvin help them keep their footing on the property ladder, or are their money problems beyond even his help?

• When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Go Shopping

  A woman battling massive credit card debts and bank loans the size of her mortgage receives a helping hand from economics expert Alvin Hall. Jillian Milton-Searle used shopping all over the world as an escape from her unhappy relationships

• Windfall

  Alvin Hall attempts to turn around the fortunes of a born gambler who received a half-million-pound windfall when he sold his glazing franchise and proceeded to fritter it away on holidays, risky investments and greyhound racing. With only #10,000 left in the bank and his job on the rocks, can he be helped out of his financial rut, or will risk-taking prove his ruin?

• Zoe Flowerday and Mark Collins

  Zoe Flowerday and partner Mark Collins would like their finances to be a shared responsibility. Zoe has always enjoyed her independence when it comes to money, and has invariably held the purse strings in her relationships : can expert Alvin Hall help the couple achieve a happy balance?