Gradually light at the end of the tunnel!

kyllle

Hi everyone, Iv been a massive fan of moneysavingexpert for about a year now always finding the forums, readily available information and support from such a close community a massive motivation in my will to become debt free. Like so many people who visit this site I to found myself in such a dark whole at a silly age and I feel its about time I shared my roller coaster of an experience with you.

Im now 26 but at the age of 20 i found myself foolishly being granted a £3500 overdraft by basically clicking a button in my nationwide online banking account, i was also granted £4500 through a barclaycard application, £1000 on a halifax overdraft, and £500 on a storecard. I also had a mobile phone contract costing around £60 per month. I was working part-time earning £120-£150 a week whilst also being at uni and really couldnt afford this huge huge hole I had gotten myself into but at that time I didnt really seem to care, I never thought about the long term effects. Within a few months I found myself in debt of £10,000 through acting like a millionaire, gambling like mad, buying constantly off ebay, drinking and doing drugs and generally thinking I was big and important.

I couldnt afford the payments of my direct debits and kept going into the red of my overdrafts finding myself being constantly charged banking fees and ultimately continually denting my credit score (something I didnt even know or care about) I was paying out silly money in interest & late fees but was so scared to tell anyone and just kept things tucked away. I then became very depressed, couldnt sleep and seriously contemplated suicide as I really couldnt cope with such a black cloud constantly over me it was getting me down so so much. I remember sitting in the bath one night crying and shaking with the fear of how much trouble I was in, I then tried to keep my head under the water but I couldnt do it to myself. I then made a pact with myself to get through this.

2 years ago:
Nationwide: -£3500 + constant late fees
Barclaycard: -£4500 + constant late fees
Halifax: -£1000 + constant late fees
Storecard: -£500 + late fees
Phone contract: £60+ per month

today:
Nationwide: -£350
Barclaycard: -£600
Halifax: 0
Storecard: 0
Phone contract + broadband: £40 per month

I have sacrificed alot since I caught myself on and tried to restart my life, I can honestly say Im a very different person to the one I once was and I regret how stupid I had been. Iv been very dull particuarly over the last year spending most of my evenings in my bedroom on my computer and always looking for ways to make money in order to cancel my debts, its the only thing I want to clear!! I know there are people with much more debts than me but my stupidity nearly finished me.

I prject that by the end of January 2009 I should be debt free and I plan to continue my saving throughout 2009 with a target of saving £5000.
I have checked my credit score and with no surprise im within the worst 10% for credit rating. How can I change this or have I ruined this for good?

My advice to all is if you want somethin bad enough its worth making the sacrifices for. My main goal in life is to remain away from careless debt forever.

Sharon87

Congratulations on clearing most of your debts! You're not far off from being debt free!

You're credit rating will improve with time. Once you're debt free, you can always spend on a credit card (only small amounts) and pay it off at the end of the month to improve your credit score.

Keep it up and you'll be so happy! Have you calculated when your debt free day/week/month will be yet? You can celebrate that day! (not by spending much money though lol )

shopaholic84

Hi Kyllle,

Welcome to the forum. I also signed up tonight and posted my own diary, and i feel sooo much better for it. Well done for clearning most of your debt, by the sounds of it you have worked so hard to achieve this.

Keep us updated with your progress, and i wish you luck with the rest of your debt, you will be debt free in no time.

xxxx

Jesthar

Well done, kyllle! :T That truly is an inspirational story!

Just one question - did you reclaim your credit, bank and store charges as a part of this? If you did, I suspect that went a long way towards clearing things! If not, you should definitely give it a go, you should have a nice payday out of it!

Congratulations again! :T

~Jes

Miss_Piggy_2

Well done on clearing your debt - not far to go now!!!

As Jesthar says, if you haven't already reclaimed your charges then do so now! You never know, within a few weeks you could be debt free

Thanks for sharing your experience....makes people realise that, as you say, there IS light at the end of the tunnel!

Thanks

Miss P
xx

kyllle

Hi everyone!!

Thanks so so much for your replies, I have filled out the reclaim forms and sent them off to the banks and have received notification that my claim has been noted but until the court hearing and appeal is over nothing will be actioned so when that day comes there will be a massive smile on my face as Iv worked out that between the accounts I should be owed £1300. I also received great news a few weeks ago that I'm due a rebate of up to £2000 in the new year from my previous job due to 2 years of not receiving a pay rise so things def feel like they are brightening up.

My debt free day will be January 31st which will be one of the most happiest days of my life, a day il never forget and a day that i finally see my bank account in the black instead of constantly looking at the red negative values that have been in control of me for so so long now. This has def contributed to a happier me as I don't feel so under the weather all the time, my work has also been a lot more productive as a result of my motivation and I finally feel like things are falling into place. I managed to get myself into this silly position at the click of a button and in a way im glad its happened at an early age because now I realise how important money management is and how much it can really effect your life!!

My next big sights on on my credit history and score, this is a topic that really gets to me as its so important, I will keep my credit card using it to pay my monthly phone bill but then straight away use my bank account to pay the value off in order to start trying to increase my score, is this recommended or is there any other advice you would give?

During my whole money problems I never built up the courage to talk with my parents or with anyone cause that just who I am and this is something I really regret as it feels like a very very lonely place when trying to bottle up so many things that constantly get you down but as I say I just couldn't find the courage to speak out about my predicament. I pledge never to get in this mess ever ever again but to remain positive and enjoy actually living on my own money that Iv saved. Lifes all about making mistakes and then dealing with them and sometimes that means making sacrifices, this is my biggest mistake ever and its removed me from the world for a while now in order to redeem myself but finally i feel that it wont be long til im back again.

Thanks so much guys and good luck becoming debt free!!! Im so glad Iv joined this forum as although its such a depressing topic its great to have the support and wisdom of others!! What a great forum & site!!