28 years old and bankrupt

BobProperty

Tootsie_Roll wrote:

I agree that a rate cap is pointless - the vast majority of debt in this country would fall well below the cap anyway.....

Would it? I quoted 18% which would mean the vast majority of mortagages and secured loans would be under it, but a significant number of other sources, Barclaycard (at standard rate is or was around 20%) , most storecards, would be well over it.

Hipkiss

Hiya,

I'm fairly new on this forum, but as someone who's gone bankrupt I wanted to add my little 2 pence worth in.

I'm only 31 myself, so not much older than this girl who went bankrupt. Yes, my situation was a lot different, in that I had suffered years of severe depression which to me led on to comfort spending.

This led on for the next few years of me robbing Peter to pay Paul and taking out a consolidation loan to clear the rest, having a total breakdown, ending up with me losing the lot due to spending.

Im not justifying what this girl did was wrong or not, and I don't really know what my point is - all I'm saying is that every person has a reason for their bankruptcy.

Some, like my ex, who decided he was going to get lots of credit cards as they were "easy to get" these days, pay a few installments, then go bankrupt to clear it all off. They're the kind of people who upset me when threr are people with genuine people who've been left with debt after a break-up, lost jobs, been unable to work, or have suffered mental illness like I have done.

I'm not proud of what I done, and most of my close friends/family know what's happened, but they know how ashamed I am of myself.

I can't go on living in the past though, and have to now accept that I got myself in the mess, I got myself out of the mess (and trust me, it was not an easy decision by far), and I'm starting my life all over again.

I think I'll shut up now!


HK

hueygeorge

Oh very well said!

Tootsie_Roll

BobProperty wrote:

Would it? I quoted 18% which would mean the vast majority of mortagages and secured loans would be under it, but a significant number of other sources, Barclaycard (at standard rate is or was around 20%) , most storecards, would be well over it.

Yes it would - of our £1.2 trillion debt mountain over 80% of it is secured on property which is one of the reasons that the figure is not quite as bad as is often reported in the media. Usual spin I suppose to make a story sound more dramatic.

dudleyboy

(... cos i don't post that often)

Hi

I've not checked the Debt-Free Wannabe board for a while and was surprised, and pleased, to see that this thread was still being read and contributed towards.

I just wanted to thank all those who supported (and especially "thanked") my OP, as well as BobProperty and others who nominated it for PotMA, for giving a voice to what seems to be a minority and making me feel less like a gullible fool for not going bankrupt myself and having made sacrifices during the best part of my 20s to ensure i'm debt-free (or as close as i can be) by the time i'm 30.

Truth is, I would've loved to have p*ssed it up the wall like "Liz" during the low points in my life but I guess, like others, I just have a bit of self-control and will power. I'm not one to wear my heart on my sleeve or divulge unhappy personal details - to do so would assume that everyone else's life is peachy - but the last 6 years have been extremely difficult and uncertain (geez - the last 16 if i'm to be honest). There have been severe low points, and I've suffered from stress and depression along the way myself... but I had/have enough self-control and common sense to realise that adding "money worries" to the mix really would just compound issues. Really - why create more problems for yourself?! Life is hard and complicated enough without having the bailiffs (or the guys from Top Shop) knocking on the door while you're trying to cope with everything else.

People like "Liz" have problems? EVERYONE has problems. I'm afraid that's life and it happens to us all at some point. The difference is that they've made it harder for themselves and we've made it that little bit easier (or at least we hope).

It's all very well patting one another on the back for having "lightbulb moments" when you're £30,000+ in debt (took you long enough) but most people seem to be just seeking sympathy and making excuses when the shet FINALLY does hit the fan! It's one think talking about irresponsible lending but when people post on this site moaning when they DON'T get accepted for credit and then asking for suggestions on how they can appeal or improve their credit score, you really do start thinking that some people are just determined to learn the hard way.

I hope the more who get to read, and contribute to, this discussion the better and so long may it live at the top of the topics (I might just post something once a week so it does! ).

Rather than being viewed as criticism, I really hope people take my and others' comments as the "cruel to be kind" advice that it is... because whatever justification you may find for your frivolous expenditure and subsequent debt, i'm quite confident that there are folk up and down the land who've gone thru the same and who AREN'T in debt as a result (including me). What makes us different to them is that they spent money that wasn't their's on things they couldn't afford (and making excuses for it) and we didn't! It really is that simple.

To all those who were once Liz and have taken responsibility for your actions - good on you and I wish you well in paying it all back! To those who haven't and are seeking a quick and easy way out... welcome... you're in good company on this board and you should be debt free by the end of the year.

westernpromise

john1975 wrote:

Household debt has broken through the £1 trillion barrier. Six years after applying for her first credit card, "Liz" is now bankrupt. Here she tells her story to BBC News.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3846143.stm

This person belongs in prison IMHO.

If someone borrows money with plainly no hope of repaying it, and then p1sses it away on foreign holidays, that is surely fraud. Jail a few people like her and I think we'd find the personal debt problem started to abate a bit.

westernpromise

BobProperty wrote:

I was told a while ago that somewhere in the EU (Holland?) there was a legal maximum interest rate of 4 times base rate. Anything over this was considered usurious, and would be uncollectable. I

I think a law like that is well overdue but surely it is easy to evade - by including 'optional' insurance, 'admin' fees, and the like?

westernpromise

Bunnyinthelights wrote:

Until you have an addiction (eating, spending, alcohol, drugs ANYTHING) I would be very careful about judging. Glass houses and all that.

"Spending addiction" didn't exist until about 10 years ago. It was invented to make feckless, irresponsible people feel better about being feckless and irresponsible.

skintchick

westernpromise - please stop posting cos your avatar is making me feel ill!!!!! lol !!!!

westernpromise

skintchick wrote:

westernpromise - please stop posting cos your avatar is making me feel ill!!!!! lol !!!!

I've got one from the same set where the Hoff has his leather jacket on as well as his leather pouch. So you are spared the sight of his manly nipples. Would you prefer that one?