How did u get into debt ?

iwantahome

I took out an overdraft at university for living fees. My s.loans and part time job covered these but the partying needed paying for too. I bought a laptop on finance and failed to clear this off, and then took out a loan to pay the finance off. I was paying £25 and month back as that was the payment requested and the balance was increasing by £1 every month. I haven't looked into how this worked, but I know HFC bank are con artists and I'd never even look at them again.

I got into a relationship and was convinced to take out loans to pay of parts of my now ex's debts, holidays etc. Lesson well and truly learnt there. I was then dumped and left in 10k+ of debt.

Moving in with my parents meant I could clear this within a year, I am now debt free and saving for a deposit for a place of my own. I use a credit card and pay it off every month to build a good credit rating, and will save a separate fund for furniture etc so that cc and loans are never needed again. The only loans I will ever have (if I can help it) is a mortgage and a student loan.

So looking back YOUTH AND STUPIDITY were what got me into debt. AGE AND LEARNING FROM PAST MISTAKES are what will keep me out of it.

worriedchick

After reading these posts I wish my debts were as small, I've not added up but are massive. First time on here and I've come here as not sure what to do and where to turn. Too ashamed to talk about my debt as all my fault. I earn good money but have lived to my means and my outgoings terrify me. I have nobody chasing me for money as treading water but I know I am sinking. Can't sleep and getting depressed about it all.

tlrtone

I have been lucky over the years, being able to run up a lot of debt - mainly by living outside my means - but having good fortune to come into a number of windfalls with property, divorce and bonus' at work.

Trouble is, that has led me into a false sense of security, so I am determined to get my £40K+ of debt down and cleared in a few years if I can.
Mind you, with 5 kids, 4 of whom are teenagers, it is not going to be easy!

I am determined not to run it up again, as I am not getting any younger and my luck is bound to run out soon!

anh1904

when I split up from my non working ex wife, I continued to pay everything on the matrimonial home, so all I had to live on was credit (which comes easy on my income).

When I said enough was enough, things turned nasty, so add on some legal costs.

Then, rent, plus maintenance, plus servicing the debt, made things incredibly tight for a few years where the debt mountain (over £60k at peak) was just about kept on a level (bankruptcy would surely have been easier) - but eventually got my life back on track, met another divorcee, also poor so understood, and we have chipped away at it over the last few years despite having two kiddies of our own.

The next few years will see us clear, so there's plenty to look forward to, and all sorts of lessons learned along the way too!

chrissie52

After reading these posts I wish my debts were as small, I've not added up but are massive. First time on here and I've come here as not sure what to do and where to turn. Too ashamed to talk about my debt as all my fault. I earn good money but have lived to my means and my outgoings terrify me. I have nobody chasing me for money as treading water but I know I am sinking. Can't sleep and getting depressed about it all.

Worriedchick - this board is non-judgemental, you've come to the right place. If you can why don't you try posting an SOA (link at the top of the board) on a new thread and let the good people on here try to help you. It may just take the pressure off and as it's 'virtual' you don't need to worry that anyone knows you.
Sometimes it's easier 'talking' to strangers online and the folks on here are topnotch.:)

dancingwedger

I think the start of it all was uni and a new credit card. I've pretty much been in debt ever since then....11 years (wowzers!)

I've bought properties, sold properties, been on some amazing travels, dressed well, eaten well, drunk well!!!!!! but am now pregnant and feel that I need to get out of debt for the sake of my future family. There have been a few lightbulb moments but am yet to get on track with knocking the debts on the head. I have stopped spending on the dreaded credit cards so a step in the right direction but still a long way to go...visit here almost daily to read all the inspirational stories although I sometimes wish I had the determination of others...

Great post subject!

Little_Miss_Uni-Debt

My name says it all

I had saved up to go to University so I was doing fine while I was there. I worked the entire summers and 3 days per week while at Uni. The last 6 months there was difficult. I was working and studying still even in my final year - burning the candle at both ends, always rushing!

Then I got ill and it turned to pneumonia and I had to stop doing everything! I was ill for 8 weeks then had to take a further 9 weeks rest! Missed a whole Uni project which put my final grade 3% off a 2:1. My lower grade meant I got a lower paid graduate position and it has all spiralled since then!

It just goes to show, more haste, less speed! If you work too hard and burn yourself out you end up worse off in the long run!

Maybe I should change my name to Little Miss Pneumonia-Debt instead

bcfc1710

Easy/stupid! I was a 18 year old lad who strolled into barclays for a small £250 loan to pay for a lads holiday.... Half hour later walked out with £2000 credit card... Then just steam rolled from there!

divegirlinperil

I really hear you. My debts are massive - tax, vat, cards, family, overdraft. I have failed to keep myself in check with both personal and business finances - things are in freefall and I have caused distress and financial hardship to those I love. On a good day I feel depressed and hopeless, on a bad day I feel seriously suicidal. But I'm finding that the more I trawl this forum the more it is forcing me to face up to my disastrous circumstances and I DO want to put things right - a big first step I guess..... As a result of this I finally called the CCCS a couple of days ago. Slow progress as mostly all I did in that call was to weep with the stress and shame of what I've done. But I am telling myself that is at least a step on the long long road.... I wish you luck and hope that we both sort ourselves out and get our lives on track

ccb

Mine started off in 2001, with a loan for a car. My previous one had been written off, and to be able to get to work every day, I needed wheels urgently.

A couple of years later I made the worst decision ever; I moved in with my then-boyfriend. In the space of just over 3 years, he helped spend nearly £30k!

He persuaded me to get a top-up loan (can't remember exactly how much now) to get another car as mine failed it's MOT. I should have just paid for the repairs rather than listen to him... and he didn't even drive!
A £10k cash present from my parents was frittered away on nothing.
A £10k balance was run up on a credit card, which I then got a loan from Egg to pay off, as the APR was lower.
A further balance was run up on the same card, so when I finally had enough of the boyfriend, I got another top-up loan in 2005 which totalled £7k to pay it off.

Gradually, I've got the balance down. There were a couple of hiccups, mainly car-related where I borrowed from family, but it's been going the right way:

2008: £15.9k
2009: £13.0k
2010: £ 4.2k
2011: £ 2.7k

The huge decrease in debt in 2010 was aided by clawing back £3.8k from Egg for PPI on the £10k loan. That wiped out the remaining £2.4k balance, saving me £255 a month on payments, which allowed me to pay off loans from family.

I'm planning to be debt free, plus an nearly new car as mine is getting a little tempermental, AND have moved house by next summer. All pretty much unthinkable three years ago.

One of the major things that helped me was, and still is, a spreadsheet where I keep track of every transaction in current and savings accounts, and with credit cards, and the decreasing balance my last loan. Seeing how much I owed was terrifying, but also being able to see a few years ahead, and how squirrelling away a few ££ here and there affected my debts vs savings gave me hope. You can't ignore debt and hope it'll go away, the only way to be rid of it, is face it head-on and actively do something about it.