How did we all get here?

Ames

lola34 wrote: »

I got my first c/c at 18 - trips to London and designer cothing and it soon built up - bearing in mind this was before minimum wage and my full time wage was less than 400 per month eventually got it cleared, bought my first house and all was fine, had first son and all was fine but wih the 2nd the c/c started again unbelieveable how much more expensive two is compared to one, 2 years ago I recieved some money and once again paid them off but as you will see they have crept up again, just with everyday things can't even say that I bought anything big on them!!!!!!
Have been looking at a loan to clear them but it doesn't work out- needless to say I have cut them all up, the B/card is now in the reduced rate for eixsting customers, the only one I have is the Nationwide and that was purely for the 0%abroad - ebaying like mad and hope to have the M&S cleared by Xmas, B/Card may take a little longer!!!!!
I think for me a c/c was habit - easier to pay and getting one at 18 makes you feel like a grown up!!!

Completely agree with this, I remember how great it felt getting a storecard and passing the credit check when they phoned up while I was in the store.

josephine82

I got into debt because spending money on nice things made me happy (or so I thought). When I felt depressed or low, a new pair of shoes or a top that i didn't need cheered me up. Buying a new phone on ebay, because I wanted it. Buying everything that I thought I needed to make me happy. It takes a long time to realise that spending money and being surrounded by nice things doesn't make you happy! Hard still sometimes when your instant reaction when you feel low is to treat yourself! I still haven't quite figured it out!

Nargleblast

Back in the early 80's the focus of banking changed - it used to be a service industry, managing people's finances. Then it suddenly changed to a sales industry - every time a customer walked through the door you had to sell them something - a loan, a credit card, travel insurance, a mortgage.......it was around this time that this country's focus changed from manufacturing to finance and consumerism. Now look where we are - industries dead, whole communities with massive unemployment when factories shut down, big contracts going to overseas firms, foreign companies buying up our utility companies because it's easy money for them. And who gets shafted? The poor taxpayer and householder struggling to make ends meet. Especially the ones like us who were persuaded years ago that we really could have it all now and pay tomorrow. At least most of us on this forum are now older and wiser and have learnt from the mistakes of the past. Roll on a new era when we all follow the principles of our predecessors i.e. pay as you go, don't rely on credit, save for what you want. it is more satisfying in the long run.

empy

Hi all, My journey into debt mirrors many of your own. It was all accrued because of wanting to keep up with the jone's, wanting nice clothes, furniture etc,etc. I also have Bipolar Disorder, which whilst I don't blame all my debt on it, it certainly contributed a great deal. When I was manic I would go on major shopping spree's going as far as trying too buy a business which was for sale and which I was manager of at the time, got the loan etc then came out of my manic cycle and back down to earth, pulled out of the purchase as the business was a lost cause and blew the lot on well, rubbish.
I have finally had my LBM and I am in the process of working out my budget, BT my credit cards etc.
Good luck too you all in your DF journey.

beccad

DH and I just overspent, simple as that really. I wasn't working very much (valid reasons for it) and we were spending as if we had two salaries coming in still, although not extravagantly so, just a couple of hundred extra per month, which went on the credit cards, and then a couple of holidays a year, adding another couple of grand each time. DH always said it's fine we can afford it. At some point earlier this year I found lots of unopened credit card statements, bank statements and so on, and the full horror was revealed.

I don't blame him solely for it - yes he should have told me, but I blindly carried on letting him do all that without paying any attention to our finances, which are joint.

Nixxx

josephine82 wrote: »

I got into debt because spending money on nice things made me happy (or so I thought). When I felt depressed or low, a new pair of shoes or a top that i didn't need cheered me up. Buying a new phone on ebay, because I wanted it. Buying everything that I thought I needed to make me happy. It takes a long time to realise that spending money and being surrounded by nice things doesn't make you happy! Hard still sometimes when your instant reaction when you feel low is to treat yourself! I still haven't quite figured it out!

I think this is me! The worst part is that I can afford it, but that doesn't make it ok. I look back and realise all the crap I bought and i'm selling them at a tenth of the cost on ebay.:mad:
I'm mad at myself more than anyone else

Daffykjs

Mine was ironically when i started work! my graduate loan was tiny and even the travelling loan from dad was fine!

But i got a graduate job, paying more money than i'd been paid before, and i just didn't look into it and how much i actually have at the end of it! (and bought a new car on finance!) wasn't extravagent by any means but just didn't think i needed to think about it. didn't check bank account regularly and thought i could afford nights out and the odd weekend away! and also paying for things for both me and hubs when he wasn't working or working on low pay. just thought i earned enough for these things!

and it turns i couldn't afford these things and was spending more than i earned so it got worse and worse without noticing.

also another thing i'd do was to be the one to get the tickets for things (gigs, theatre, whatever) and get them on cc. then when i got the money back from everyone, instead of paying it straight back to the card it would just go into my account and get lost with the rest of my money!

*Jellie*

A mixture of things- similar to many of the stories on here. I guess my main struggle is a sense that I've worked hard and would like to think I am an ok person therefore I am really entitled to some treats along the way. Difficulty assessing want versus need. A tendency to spend when I feel low or to buy things that I feel will improve my life. An ostrich approach to keeping up with my bank balance so I didn't realise when I was going into the red and getting charged.
Having student loans followed by ccs and loans to keep up really didn't help!
I'm determined to start living within my means!!

Ames

I know what you mean about 'deserving' things. I can't work due to disability, and I often fall into the trap of 'my life's crap enough, I deserve something nice to make up for it'. I think a lot of people don't realise that getting out of debt isn't just about pounds and pennies, it's about changing whole aspects of your thinking and attitude.