How on earth do you manage that?

youngandreckless

Pixie don't let one peculiar thread make you leave the board! On the whole this board is as informative and supportive as it should be and you are one of the people that make it that way.
Khizman - I'm not quite sure how to take your question, but would like to think it was not intended to be offensive. In answer to your question I personally have had both bad judgement and bad luck, but it could be just about any reason you can think of. So to avoid debt you shouldn't spend money you don't have on things you don't need, oh but make sure you don't get made redundant with no savings, or get ill, or have any of the million things happen that could get you in debt.....

pixie1

Thanks everyone thats very kind of you, i was having a bad afternoon yesterday and this just tipped me over the edge. Today hasnt been that much better to be honest but i will update my own post with that news.

Thanks again

lottie26_2

This has relly got everyone talking at the end of the day we are in debt because of ourselves but we all have completly different circumstances people have been very unlucky and when you get into these situations food still needs to be put on the table and bills to be paid and debt becomes a roundabout.
This person has not taking into account peoples feelings it takes alot to say you need to get out of debt and then start to deal with it this person was very condesending,it makes me very angry :mad:

Linguistic_Chimp

Hi,
I got in debt from doing a 4 year Modern Languages degree at Notts uni, during which time I supported myself completely i.e. no parental support. My parents earn basically nothing, so I got the maximum student loan, which was not enough and so was topped up by hardship loans every other semester. As well as that I worked all the way through uni - sometimes 3 jobs at a time. During the third year, when we had to travel for our degree, I racked up about 4000 quid credit card debt on flights etc.
When I graduated I had:
2000 overdraft in the UK
1500 overdraft in Belgium (where I now live)
1000 credit card debt
18000 student loan

Total: 22500 quid

I graduated 1.5 years ago and have managed to pay off everything but my student loan which is now down to 17000 (only!).
I think it is an awful fact of life that it is the poorer students who end up the most in debt at the end and I am hoping to save my !!!!!! off in the next 2 years and get rid of it completely!
The Language Monkey

Bargain_Rzl

Hmmm.

I didn't catch this thread when it was new but have found it interesting reading.

I don't post regularly on the Debt Free board as I'm not in debt and have not had the experience of a debt problem, but I do read the board quite thoroughly and regularly, and what I've really noticed is that there is very little distinction between those who have run up debts recklessly and those who are in debt through bad luck. The people who've basically been stupid with money and who choose to stick with this site (this being distinct from the people who post a few times in the hope of being introduced to the magical wipe-the-slate-clean fairy, then give up, go away and bury their heads in the sand again) usually seem to be so ashamed/angry/annoyed at themselves, and show such determination to get out of debt responsibly, that they are just as deserving of moral support as anybody who's got into a mess through illness or other personal misfortune.

One of the most important things I've learnt from this forum is how best to set yourself up so as prevent being in debt in the first place, though I do appreciate that I'm very lucky to have had parents who not only provided me a sound grounding in matters of budgeting and personal finance (from both sides! - dad always living the high life, mum always running the place brilliantly on a tiny budget :rolleyes:) but also a £3k a year parental subsidy during uni.

I think the OP's question is very valid, but I do wonder if the tone of the question might have been better suited to the Discussion Time board. (There's a thread on there at the moment called something like: "Incapacity benefit - why can't you work?" Now I grant you, the OP's post is a lot more sensitively phrased than the title, but the thread's better placed there than it would have been on the Benefits board).

Willsnarf1983

Bargain_Rzl wrote:

I think the OP's question is very valid, but I do wonder if the tone of the question might have been better suited to the Discussion Time board. (There's a thread on there at the moment called something like: "Incapacity benefit - why can't you work?" Now I grant you, the OP's post is a lot more sensitively phrased than the title, but the thread's better placed there than it would have been on the Benefits board).

i totally disagree, i don't have time to view evey message board ad thus only this one and the grabbit quick ones are what i visit daily.

i am glad it was posted here

Will

thyme_2

The trouble with having a credit card is that it is too easily available! We start getting into difficulties when life throws us wobblies - be it redundancy, illness, having to change our accommodation or some emergency repairs. We find them very useful in those circumstances - but how many in debt can honestly say that every item put on their card is essential? We often carry them with us every day for those emergencies (do they happen daily?) and so when we are feeling down or spot something we just have to have.... and we spend and the debt goes up. Then life throws us another wobbly and so it can go on.

Perhaps we should learn to leave the card at home - reminder to self!

Xbigman

Willsnarf1983 wrote:

i totally disagree, i don't have time to view evey message board ad thus only this one and the grabbit quick ones are what i visit daily.

i am glad it was posted here

Will

In recent weeks I haven't had time to read everything on just the debt free board! This board is busy, busy, busy. Surely its not just the time of year but a growing trend of debt. Well I'm an optimist so I like to think it is a growing trend of the nation coming to its senses over debt. We shall see.
Regards



X

Juni_3

Mine came from trying to keep up with the Joneses followed by a disaster at work.

We had kids very young and found it difficult to cope with brothers/sisters having all the mod cons etc while we struggled so we got credit cards and loans to keep up.

We were just about coping with these and I was starting out on a good career. Then the recession hit.

The company I was working for started to struggle and couldn't pay the wage bill properly. I worked away from home for weeks at a time and they weren't paying expenses. Looking back on it I should have cut my losses and run, but I trusted my bosses when they said everything would be alright and if I just held on a bit longer I'd get it all back.

Needless to say I didn't. To add insult to injury they hadn't been paying all sort of bills for months before that so my pension was up the spout as well.

It was without doubt the hardest 10 years of my life paying it all back and something I never ever want to repeat. Back then creditors took you to court at the drop of a hat. We had no phone for 8 years and racked up CCJ's in the double figures.

Everything is fine now and the shoe is on the other foot with the relatives. I have no debt, a top class pension scheme, plenty of cash in the bank and a great life. They've got into the spiral of constantly re-mortgaging their houses to fund their extravagant lifestyles and have no pensions.

I would have liked to have learned the lesson in a less painful way but, as I like the person I am now, I wouldn't change a thing.

JAMIEDODGER

wow juni, great post. i noticed your sig....how did you get to that point? if you dont mind me asking...