Parents of children going to school and students entering college for the first time are among the most likely to fall into serious debt, according to the Money Advice and Budgeting Service (MABS).
The service's national co-ordinator, Mr Liam Edwards, said yesterday that the cost of back-to-school new uniforms, winter clothes and school books often put great financial strain on families at this time of year.
He said that the easy availability of credit meant it was becoming very hard for people to resist getting into debt.
"People feel entitled to spend money nowadays because of the affluence in today's society," he added.
A MABS adviser based in Ballymun, Ms Philis Brennan, warned that some parents were looking to money-lenders to provide extra cash to send their children to school.
"Just after the summer, going to school really isn't planned for. Parents who applied for the back-to-school grant from the Social Welfare earlier in the summer have probably spent it already," she said.
The back-to-school grant which is means-tested is £43 for children up to 11 and £58 for those between 12 and 22.
Mr Edwards also said students were increasingly falling into debt. "Banks regard students as very good customers nowadays and will give loans to entice custom, but the day of reckoning comes when the students leave college and are faced with debts sometimes of £5,000 or £6,000," he said.
Mr Edwards advised people not to borrow from money-lenders and to visit a money adviser who could help them organise their finances. The number of people going to MABS for advice has increased to about 10,000 a year, he said.
The advice service was set up as a pilot scheme in 1992 by the Department of Social Community and Family Affairs.
There are now more than 90 advisers working with the organisation offering help to people who get into debt.
Inquiries about the back-to-school grant can be made on freephone 1800-456-4000.