What Caused Your Debt in the First Place

aliwatts

Tashja wrote:

We got married and bought a house at the sametime (September & October 1999) and with us both working we were managing.

Then in May 2000 we had a very serious car crash on the M6. This triggered PTSD and depression for me and I couldn't leave the house for 6 months and I lost my job. I was 19. The solicitors dealing with the accident couldn't do anything for us :rolleyes:

Abbey National, our mortgage company at the time also refused to help and started adding charges and interest and in the end we just gave up. I realsie now how lucky we were not to loose the house

After 6 months I managed to pull myself together and get a job in November 2000 - 2 weeks after starting my depression seemed to suddenly return along with a few other strange symptoms. After 3 trips to the Dr they suddenly realised I was not depressed but pregnant :eek:

again we pulled ourseklves back but in August 2001 - the day before our little boy was due - my husband got diagnosed with ME and was told not to work :wall: Not his fault but it left us with a problem !!

Luckily I had some compensation come through from the car accident which went to pay off all our debts but now none of us were working it all started to mount up again. We changed mortgage companys and got a better deal and as soon as I could (6 weeks after giving birth) I went back to work.

In 2003 I had our little girl and now we have really pulled ourselves together :T

Our mortgage debts which were £2,500 are now due to be paid off in August.

We now owe:

Mortgage: £750.00 (Due to be paid off in August 06)
Britannia debt: £53.00 (Due to be paid off in September 06)
Gas: £800.00 :mad:
Electric: £150.00 (was £1,000) :eek:
More Gas: £180.00
Credit Card £860.00 (DH not mine !!)
PC loan: £800.00
DCA: £180.00
Car from 1999 accident: £1,800.00 (refered until we are in a better position)

TOTAL £5573.00

BUT

This is down from £10,000 and being the unlucky me I have had 2 further car accidents in this last year so the compensation from them will go on paying most of the above off !!!

I think we will be clear by the end of this year.

T xx

Hi,

U sound like u have had some really bad luck with the car accidents, I assume they are not your fault if claiming compensation.

I was diagnosed with ME last year aswell, although I believe it is more well known as chronic fatigue syndrome, but either way it doesnt feel good. i am glad to hear your debts are coming down and just to say try to keep your chin up, especially now there is a child to be responsible for, it makes you all the stronger !

Hopefully u won't have any more accidents and get your debts sorted out, good luck for the future.

Ali

VickyA_2

I can't believe that I've been so stupid! I'm not a regular visitor to DFW, but I think I will be from now on having read this thread.

A few years ago, having left university, I went into a spending frenzy. I'd been really careful at uni and came out with my student loan still intact (in high interest accounts) and money that my parents had given me on my 21st (that they'd saved since I was born). Part of that money went on buying a new car that I needed for a new job as the job that I got after uni was working in the middle of nowhere where there were no transport links. I then went crazy with some more of the money. I don't know what I spent it on, other than a trip to Oz for a fortnight. The rest must have been poured down the drain.

At one stage, my overdraft was up to its limit and the bank refused to give me any more. I had to resort to taking money out of the hole in the wall using my credit card :wall: Not the best move. I slowly cleared my overdraft, am now only £75 in the red. Credit card is completely cleared too.

BUT my car decided to seize up. I bought a brand new Renault Clio, on finance. I pay £89 per month and then next year I will have the opportunity to pay off the rest, get a loan to pay off the rest (£3k) or hand the car back - and have nothing to show for it. I really want to pay off the full amount as I can't really afford to hand it back! :wall:

Last July I finished a PGCE (teacher training for 1yr), so I managed to live quite frugally with my OH helping me out. I am now working - got a full time job in Jan, at last, after supply teaching. At last, I am paying off my student loan again, which I had never included in my debts - even though it is a debt :wall:

I also still have some money left over in a decent ISA. My current aim is to save up as much money as possible for the next time I am out of work (only on a temp contract at my current school) AND pay off my car next year.

Sorry to whitter on, but it seems like having just had this "lightbulb moment" I'll be back!

Vicky

tesuhoha

Soounds like youre doing pretty well. Glad this thread has done some good.

Tashja

aliwatts wrote:

Hi,

U sound like u have had some really bad luck with the car accidents, I assume they are not your fault if claiming compensation.

I was diagnosed with ME last year aswell, although I believe it is more well known as chronic fatigue syndrome, but either way it doesnt feel good. i am glad to hear your debts are coming down and just to say try to keep your chin up, especially now there is a child to be responsible for, it makes you all the stronger !

Hopefully u won't have any more accidents and get your debts sorted out, good luck for the future.

Ali

Hi thanks for your reply

It is the CFS strain DH has got - took us 2 years to get it diagnosed

All the accidents we have had have not been my fault - I dont drive - 1 was put down as DH's fault though technically it was not (long story :rolleyes: )

Writing down those debts has really helped - I thought we owed £2/3,000 not £5/6,000 :eek:

*** LIGHTBULB MOMENT NO2 ***

We are now going to work harder to get them cleared !!

Watch this space :j

T xx

BACKFRMTHEEDGE

Good luck to you all :grouphug:

Goku2010

Hello all,

My first post and I have only recently discovered this site and forum. Pleased to meet you all!

My tale of debt begins as follows:

1. left uni in '99 with £9000 of student loans and £3300 overdraft. Took out a graduate loan from Barclays worth £6000 and paid off part of the OD taking it down to £1800. Still not sure why i didn't clear it all. Started a £21k IT job immediately after leaving uni and moved out of my mother's house. Also managed to get a couple of credit cards along the way. Also rented a house (unfurnished) for a year and had to furnish it and had the hassle of paying things like leccy bills and council tax for the first time. Needed help from mum almost each month to manage the bills once the loan payments had come out and I had lived my champagne lifestyle for the 2 weeks following pay.

2. Quit job after 2 years because they wanted me to relocate out of the UK. Didn't have a job to go to as I assumed I would take a month off, then quickly find work again. I had no savings and only had my final pay packet to live off of. It took my 5 months to find another job and during this time I saw the CAB about my debts and they gave me the usual advice, so I contacted everyone and told them to please hold off for a few months till I found work. Sure enough I started work again at £28k and was back on track with the payments. At this time I left the rented house and moved back in with mum.

3. Took out an RBOS credit card to consolidate 2 previous credit cards. Hehe, fell into the trap of not cancelling the old ones , maxed those out again.

4. At Xmas 2002, I decided to use end of year bonus to put a deposit on a new car ad a dealers, a hot hatch (but really not that hot) which swallowed fuel like I swallow water and was now paying £250 a month just for the car repayments along with all the rest of the loans and ccards. Also managed to put a major dent in the car within 48 hours of bringing it home from the dealers! :-(

5. Xmas 2003, traded in the car after a year for the same model, but new, and also ended up paying £350 a month for it. Ah, the new car smell suddenly seems so unimportant now.

6. Middle of 2004, still working, still paying off student loan, graduate loan, and perhaps 3 or 4 credit cards. Still have £1800 over draft, credit cards alone must add up to £6k. Eventually pay off graduate loan. Yay, happy. However, getting letters from credit card company and Barclays about my account performance and that I should contact them regarding. Sure enough I do, and end up with an £8k Barclaysloan with about 14% interest over 3 years. At this point I thought my credit rating would be so shot that I wouldn't get a loan anywhere, so I was 'thankful' to Barclays for giving me the loan. I also took out payment protection! :-( Loan was intended to cover the overdraft and credit cards. Paid off credit cards and cut them up, but still do not pay off £1800 od.

Ah, also applied for an Egg card on advice that it would positively affect my credit rating as opposed to having no credit cards. I thought I wouldn't get it and if I did i thought I wouldn't spend it. Not only did I get it they threw me a £7000 limit I also got £1500 on a Mint card. Jeez, I don't know how to stop myself.

Oh, just a little thing of getting married to girlfriend as well! Egg card helps pay for holidays and a small wedding as well as gadgets like a flatscreen TV and car insurance for the whole year.

7. Almost £1000 a month on loans and the car and card payments.. For some reason the rest of my pay packet just disappears on stuff. Manage to breeze through the latest credit cards in under 6 months.

8. 2005, at home with wife and mother :-O. Having problems saying no to the wife when it comes to buying things. Its not that she's demanding, but I obviously want to show her that despite the debt I can still look after her. Find out that wife is pregnant! Happy news and we start to plan on the future, namely moving out of my mother's house and into my own place. Also trade in 3 door hot hatch for 5 door conservative model. It wasn't new, but was from the dealers, on finance, and back to paying £250 (over 5 years). About our own place, I spend months trying to convince her we can't afford a place, even after doing the sums over, taking to account everything, possible mortage, council tax payments etc. Then eventually give in and apply for a 2 bed flat on shared ownership. Didn't think I'd get the mortgage but I did. After 2 months we get the flat in September 2005.

Here's the kicker, in April 2006, we have still not moved in! >:| The house broke me, almost £1000 just for the combined rent and mortgage, bills extra, plus the loans and car payment totalling almost another £1k. One snag, i take home just under £2000 a month without expenses or overtime. Something's gotta give.

Since the house, I was not able to meet the other commitments so in Dec 2005, desperate, but still trying to hold it together (considering I now have my own flat but can't furnish it to move in) I contact the CCCS. Consultation was in Jan 2006 and first payment to DMP started in Feb 06.

Barclays accepted the DMP, as did Egg and Mint, but car finance company (Blackhorse) did not, in fact, they passed my case onto another company (Close Assitance) to meet me last week to 'discuss' the account. CCCS warned me not to sign anything, i.e voluntary surrender of vehicle as I need the car for work. I didn't, but the only options presented to me by Close Assistance were pay the £1300 in arrears and resume full monthly payments of £250 a month for the remainer of the loan term (over 4 years left) or surrender the car to Blackhorse, they sell it, take the proceeds to pay off the loan (£13,000) and I can pay a minimal amount every month to clear off the rest of the amount however that may be. According to Close Assistance they may accept a lump sum in full and final payment even if it didn't clear the remaining balance.

So here I am, married, with a beautiful baby girl (and associated costs), and in debt to the tune of around £31,000, with a flat, but still living at mum's house. All before I turn 29! Sounds crazy, but its true. On the upside, the flat is almost ready to move in, its decorated, even has leather chairs (whoops they are on interest free for 1 year also from Blackhorse), I bought a fridge last month and had to order a washer dryer this month from Next Direct with my credit account. I may even be able to buy a bed this month and get us moved in.

Oh, but I will probably have to give up the car. CCCS advised me not to and to stick to my guns with Blackhorse, but at the risk of CCJs and Attachment of Earnings, and I really do not want my employers in my business so to speak. Its such a small company and word can get around. So I may just give up the car. Ideally I would love to have some kind of replacement car, even just a banger, but looks like we will have to do without for a long while.

Mum has been helpful, but pride stops me from accepting large sums of money from her just to get through each month. She's not rich, she's almost near retirement age and still has to support her son and his wife I also cannot bear to ask my brother for help since he has his own family, but is doing well for himself. Its one thing when I know I can pay him back as I lent a sum of money from him to buy the flat, but was able to pay it back once the purchase was completed. That was only due to a bit of cashback from the housing association the flat was bought/rented from.

Oh well, so there we go. I have made some big time financial messups, that is plain to see.

Sorry for the essay, its taken me all of 2 hours to post this. Anyway, I am hoping I can dig myself out of the mire I am in with the help of some good advice from this forum and its members. I still keep positive, after all I still have a family to support!

scottishspendaholic

Hi Goku2010,

Welcome to MSE - what a story! I think everyone will feel for you - we've all made some silly decisions and then had to face the music.

I really hope everything works out for you and your family - please keep posting on MSE, we're all behind you and will do the best we can to help.

scottishspendaholic x

scottishspendaholic

Hi everyone,

Whao, what a thread!

I can't even bear to remember all the silly CC and consolodation reasons I am in this mess. I just know that the money was spent on a combination of stupid things including lunches, drinks, holiday spends (withdrawing money in cash from CC!), presents and cards for friends, Christmases, handbags etc etc. So depressing.

Oh well - onwards and upwards - I'm hoping to look forwards now rather than backwards and am working really hard to try and pay off our debts, get married and save for the future and babies.

Good luck to everyone!

scottishspendaholic x

tesuhoha

Goku2010 wrote:

Hello all,

My first post and I have only recently discovered this site and forum. Pleased to meet you all!

My tale of debt begins as follows
Thats a real shame. Sorry to hear youre starting out married life with such a burden. But what an amazing first post. I'm sure you'll get some really good advice on here. i'll have to read it again. Still youve taken your first step by coming on here. Well done.

Goku2010

Oh yes, the credit cards...I knew I missed out lots from my recollection. Buying gadgets (I have a weakness!), treating friends to dinner, new clothes, paying for new tyres for the car, all sorts.

And once I'd maxed out the card, I would be in that cycle of paying off the minimum payments, (upwards of £100 on my £7000 Egg card) chipping away at the balance, but by the middle of the month, scrambling to find money anywhere and then I would end up just spending back up to the limit again. That would continue for months and months.

scottishspendaholic wrote:

Hi everyone,

Whao, what a thread!

I can't even bear to remember all the silly CC and consolodation reasons I am in this mess. I just know that the money was spent on a combination of stupid things including lunches, drinks, holiday spends (withdrawing money in cash from CC!), presents and cards for friends, Christmases, handbags etc etc. So depressing.

scottishspendaholic x