How did u get into debt ?

mildredalien

Initially I just had a car loan as I needed a car for work and didn't have any savings after being a student. But, on really crappy wages I just spent more than I earned and used credit cards and my overdraft to make up for it. This wouldn't have been so bad on its own, but this was coupled with a slacker ex-boyfriend who spent most of his time out of work, racked up £10k of debt and I was left to pay all of our joint expenses bar his rent - meaning a lot of spending on credit cards to make it through the month. I also stupidly took out a loan to help him manage his debts as while I could afford to pay mine, he couldn't.

*sigh* I was young and in love, and very very stupid - and now I'm paying for it. Luckily I've always been able to manage my debts and never got into a position where I couldn't make payments, but the basic payments take up a large portion of my wages, even though I'm far better paid than I was when I started getting into debt.

GingerFurball_2

Same as most people. Overdraft & credit card = free money!

Luckily I had my lightbulb moment a few months before my daughter was born and started making serious inroads into my debt. Credit card has gone from being at £3500 last year to just under £400 now, and although I've still got £1900 of an overdraft, it's at 0% as I'm a student, so I'll soon be in a position to save!

The most frustrating thing is like so many people I have absolutely !!!! all to show for my spending and the realisation that had I never had a credit card or just used it sensibly, the £3000+ I've spent in the last 6 months clearing my credit card could have cleared my overdraft and gone into savings. I dread to think how much my credit card has actually cost me given I made minimum payments and very little else for 2 years.

maskerade

I was really depressed and tried to spend my way out of it. Consolidated credit cards onto a loan then spent again on the credit cards... Stupid mental health

caledonian_princess

Breakdown of a long term relationship. I bought him out of the house then had to buy stuff to replace what he was taking and pay the legal fees which were twice what I was expecting. Since I had to rethink my expenditure due to be newly single I had my LBM almost as soon as the house sale went through and I've been beavering away clearing the debt ever since.

Guitar

I had a minor amount of debt build up over my time at University (not counting student loans) but had largely lived frugally. In my final year I thought it's be a good idea to rent with my girlfriend to save on living costs, life was good, everything was budgeted, planned and organised so I could concentrate on University.

We broke up after a few months of living together because she wanted to sleep around. Pathetically I still chased after her, even doing her ironing and cooking.

This was the most soul destroying time of my life because I was in love with her but she didn't see a problem with bringing guys back to the flat. The worst pain I've ever experienced is lying awake at night knowing the girl you love is in the next room with another man and doesn't even care that it hurts you.

Unable to take the strain I had to move out but had paid the semester's rent in advance and had to write that off. I went deep into an overdraft and credit cards to cover living expenses. Things started to snowball from there. I got a bank fine (administration charge) for a failed direct debit for mobile phone insurance I thought was cancelled. The bank fine meant I couldn't meet other direct debit payments, which meant more fines, more fines means less money to make payments, which means more fines.

At the same time my parents were having money problems (my mother is very much a Keeping up with the Joneses type of person.) She saw my student loans as free money and I foolishly kept letting her lend money when she had no intention of paying it back (because I wasn't earning the money she didn't feel like she was taking money from me). She also encouraged me to take out a few smaller loans as she was at her credit limit to cover various failed business schemes.

I was having to work so much just to keep my head above it all I couldn't study and ended up dropping out of university in my final year.

Once you're down it seems like everything decides now's the time to attack. I'd taken out a interest free loan to buy a computer for University. I'd actually saved up the cash but at the last minute decided it would be savvy to take it on interest free credit, stick the money in the bank and pay off the loan in total just before the extortionate interest rate kicked in. Most of the savings was borrowed by my mother and I ended up having to essentially pay twice as much for the computer.

I'd also foolishly gotten a car on hire purchase that I couldn't really afford. The car salesman saw me coming and ripped me off massively. The car salesman looked like Pierce Brosnan and had a mirror next to his desk to admire himself in.

I'd been encouraged to get a car loan rather than just buy a banger by my mother who figured she'd be able to use the car too. The car payments were crippling and ended up using the contract break clause to hand the keys back. Spent thousands with nothing to show for it.

Thinking back now it's funny how naive and stupid I was, so gullible.

Slowly I managed to get myself on my feet again by more or less cutting all contact off from my parents and all the people in my life that saw me as a dumping ground for their problems. I took about 5 years to get myself sorted

While I still cringe at the huge amount of money I've wasted and the years I've set my life back I tend to look on all of this as a mostly positive experience.

I'm now debt-free (not counting student loans)
I'm now studying at University again.
I know much more about personal finance and stay away from credit agreements and car salesmen.
There's no way someone will get to walk all over me again.

Some poor souls don't get to learn these lessons until they're married, have kids and are mortgaged up to the hilt.

asp746

bobtail_5 wrote: »

As soon as I turned 18 my parents took out a provident loan in my name, I just had to sign on the dotted line and go along with it. Then they started charging me board when I was in my first year at college and only worked part time, could no longer afford clothing or bus fare so I took out store cards and credit cards. I did this for a couple of years and because I could no longer sustain my college lifestyle with my part time work (because of paying board) I just used the cards as free money. I bought an iPod on credit and had a year to pay it off without interest but that never happened.

Then my parents bribed me to take out a bank loan otherwise they wouldn't help me get to uni. I now have £5000 of debt from this loan which I pay myself as parents don't pay it on time. I also have two overdrafts I took out at uni to help with accommodation :-(

with parents like that you dont need enemies:mad:

natsing

My debt was from a combination of factors, poor money management at Uni and beyond, not a vast aount of debt from that, but when DH and I bought our house we just didn't plan, we'd got a consolidation loan for the small debts and then decided to add £5k for a deposit on the house (how dumb!). We then bought new windows and doors for the house and spent all our cash doing not a lot to it really, after totting that up in April 2009 it came to £20K. We have paid all the CCs, ODs and window loan off, and have just the big loan to go, there's 6k left and £5k in savings, so another tight month and we can pay it off in a lump sum, cannot wait to be finally debt free for the first time in 12 years.

mrsinvisible

Didnt have any debt untill 3 years ago (age 58) but OH health deteriorated so fast needed to buy stair lift, profiling bed, ramps , ceiling track hoists and other necessary things so he could stay at home. Had to give up my job to look after OH so income drastically cut. Found this site, got help. Didnt qualify for benefits but got DLA for OH then as he got worse, got help through SServices for other equipment and now out of debt again. But it was a SCARY place to be for a couple of years and hard going to pay off loans and ccs.

cloudcuckooland_3

I had glandular fever when my daughter was 18 months old. The virus tipped me into depression and I couldn't shake it off. My husband started attending 'carers' meetings altho he still carried on working and wasn't an at home carer. He met someone there, left me and remarried.
I brought my daughter up on my own (she's now 15) but it's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride as I have no family help in the area (mother and father no longer alive). At one point I was going to a day hospital for depression after I'd dropped her off from school.
Couldn't work for years and used spending to give myself the feelgood factor to get through the day.
Started to pick up temporary jobs, eg did Christmas with M&S but took out their newly introduced credit card and ran up £10K:eek:
Still paying for debts now worth £27K.
Puzzled as to where this went as nothing to show.
Had lump sum given me as part of an early retirement package - paid off one debt but frittered the rest away.
Still learning but running out of time -now 54.
On the plus side - credit cards cut up 2 years ago.

cloudcuckooland_3

Guitar wrote: »

Thinking back now it's funny how naive and stupid I was, so gullible.

.

I shouldn't be so hard on yourself - the whole family/girlfriend thing has been very wrong.
I hate to hear about people getting duped out of money and struggling to pay it back.
Probably just as well to keep the family at arms length, sadly they are 'takers' rather than supportive.:(
Thanks for posting.