Financial woes are not restricted to the "average Joes."  Many celebrity Brits have also dealt with their share of money troubles. It appears that keeping up with appearances becomes significantly more expensive when doing so on the rich and famous level. If you are wondering how to pay your own bills, check out these famous Brits who have floundered through similar challenges on a much broader scale.

Kerry Katona

This former Atomic Kitten star has already seen more than her allotment of financial problems. Katona has dealt with many ups and downs in her personal life, including two failed marriages and the births of four children. Her professional life has also taken a hit; after quitting the Atomic Kittens, Katona moved through a host of reality shows, trying to find another niche in the entertainment industry. Without many true successes to guide her career, Katona found herself bankrupt in 2008, and she lost her £1.5 million home at the end of last year.


Shane Ritchie

Shane Ritchie may be best known for his role as Alfie Moon on the soap opera EastEnders. This British celebrity has been involved in entertainment on stage and in front of a camera. Unfortunately, Ritchie's booming acting and singing career is overshadowed by a host of money troubles that included the sale of his dream home when he couldn't keep up the £8,000 monthly payments. He managed to avoid bankruptcy through friends who covered debts for him when money got tight.

Mike Read

Disc jockey Mike Read is another well known Brit who has fallen into more debt than he can handle. Read declared bankruptcy not once but twice, with the last settlement occurring just last year. The second bankruptcy forced Read to sell his beloved collection of music memorabilia to keep bill collectors happy, although initial sales only covered a portion of his debts. Sales continue in hopes of eventually paying Read's debts in full.

Joe Swash

Another soap opera star who found himself in dire straits is Joe Swash. This former EastEnders star was also the winner of the British hit, "I'm a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!" Unfortunately, Swash was not a good manager of his generous television salary, and at the end of last year, he was declared bankrupt by London's High Court for failure to pay a £20,000 tax bill out of his current account.

Matt Goss

Better known as one of the Goss brothers in the British pop sensation Bros, Goss learned early in life that fame does not come cheap. Bros achieved fame and fortune while the Goss brothers were still teenagers, and despite the money made, the brothers came close to declaring bankruptcy by the time the Bros era was coming to an end. Today, Matt Goss lives in the United States, headlining at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. He has learned financial management from the school of hard knocks, and he is much more careful with how he handles his assets today.

Even the rich and famous can run into financial difficulty if they do not exercise money savvy as their income grows. The same rules that apply to the rest of us also keep celebrities in the black and out of trouble.