The light at the end of the tunnel....

guyrulius

This is not a tale of 'woe is me'. Unlike most of you, I am completely responsible for the situation in which I found myself. My hope is to show those of you at the beginning of the journey that no matter how bad you think your situation is, there is an end in sight. Patience is the key....

I had a well paid job and the usual debts, mortgage, car personal loans, credit cards etc. I got involved in a couple of things which I should probably have avoided and found that the learned members of the legal establishment didn't exactly share my sense of humour (think Howard Marks - Mr Nice). Anyway, I found myself spending some time at one of Her Majesty's establishments. Obviously, the house and car went along with my career.

Arriving back in civilisation, a return to my previous career was not an option, the only job I could get was as a minimum-wage shelf-stacker. I still had over £30,000 of debt which I was expected to pay and a number of ccjs and defaults. I had all of the threatening letters from the usual suspects e.g. Cabot.

The first thing I did was to get a copy of my credit report from Equifax which showed me what was outstanding. The second was to take up Squash. Why is this important? It gave me something to look forward to, motivation is crucial (also, lost 4 stone, brilliant!!!!).

I started my plan by attacking the small debts first. Clearing them first, showed me that I was making an impact and kept my motivation high. By going for each one in turn I was able to show the next company on the list a willingness to pay and was able to come to some arrangements for payments.

Having paid each one of these debts, they showed as settled on my credit file and dropped off the file six years from the date of the default.

I retrained as a computer programmer using totally free tools available on the internet and a second-hand computer and quadrupled my salary. I used a sub-prime lender to buy a car on the basis that I would not only get the benefit of the car but the extra that I would pay in interest was essentially buying me a credit rating. Sometimes, not all debt is bad.

Anyway, 4 years later, I have 10 months to go before the last CCJ (settled) falls off my credit report and one more default (also settled) which will go at the end of this month. I have ten months repayments on the car to go. January 2007, I will be debt free with a reasonable credit score.

Sorry if this seems to be a bit rambling. I guess it boils down to some essential points:

1. be patient, it will have taken me 5 years
2. have a plan & and stick to it - but realise you will need to be flexible.
3. retain your motivation, don't let yourself be ground down
4. Get good advice - be aware of who gives it and what the agenda is.
5. No matter how bad it seems, it will end!

Lewby

Hi Guy

Thanks for sharing that with us and welcome to the DFW Board. It sounds as though you have worked really hard to resolve the issues you have faced and have come through the other side. Well done for having so much resillience. :T

I think that no matter what the circumstances, all of us who find ourselves in debt need to dig deep and make a firm decision that we want to be debt free, no matter how long it takes and what we have to sacrifice along the way. Most of us didn't get into debt overnight and so we can't expect it to disappear that way either!

Some poeple come on these boards with huge debts (like me!) and others with a much smaller amount. It all seems to be relative as no matter how much the debt is ... it's still a debt that we want to be rid of.

Thanks again for sharing your success with us. I've not been here long but it has motivated me massively to join this site and know that I am not the only one ... and daily we all join the struggle together ... celebrating each others sucesses and offering support and advice when needed - they really are a great bunch of people. I hope you will stick around to continue to help motivate others.

Lewby xx

Old_iron_balls

nice first post, thanks for sharing your experiance with us.
well done & roll on Jan 2007 eh !

southernscouser

Well done guy! Top post! :T

Good luck to you mate! :beer:

debtman_3

Hey Guyrulius

Welcome aboard, I also recently signed up to the forum, that was truly an inspiration to read & gives me a light at the end of my tunnel, thanks for sharing your experience with us I feel it's your kind of determination that can really "save the day" & no matter how hard it seems to be while we're embroiled in our own battles, we can see from your post that time can also be a healer, Cheers.

savingforoz

Well done Guyrulius, your post made for interesting and inspiring reading. You have done really well. :T
All the best for the future - I have a feeling that you will continue on the very positive path that you have started.

beverleyhills

Guyrulius

Well done for staying motivated and focussed. Best wishes for life after debt.