What is your most embarrassing financial confession?

scottish_stresshead

Mine has just been really just spending stupidly and getting me into 2 overdrafts with BOS!!! Im the sort of person that if i have money i spend it without a thought of budgeting etc..im getting slightly better now ..and also getting a credit card for "emergencies" thats ended up on its limit! gahhh stupid and im only 24 and been crap with money for years

jakes-mum

My biggest financial mistake was allowing my now husband who has dyslexia, to go into a second hand car dealership on his own, I knew he was carp with money, had spent 18 months trying to sort his account out but I sat there happily in the passenger seat for 20 minutes as he went in to discuss a car and signed a credit agreement for 4 years on a 29% interest rate for a £3K car :eek: :eek: :eek:

He never signed another piece of paper again without me reading it first

janey183

oh god, cant believe Im owning up to this.
First credit card, went mad- hated my job so LEFT and LIVED OFF the c/c (m&s food, days spent watching hired videos, new make up, clothes etc.....)
Lasted a good few months, until I had run up around £2,000 of debt and had to get help to pay it off :eek:
So ashamed.....bear in mind this was over 20 years ago and I am now so much wiser...HA HA HA:A

Standingtall

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

I'm still managing to justify it - but;

BOTOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Stewart_78

I took out a 5 grand loan at 18 when I left school in 1998 to start a car business. Since then I have been in debt, be it tens or hundreds of thousands, punctuated by great profits on houses, big earnings on the stock market, personal tragedy etc. etc. I've been in debt all my adult life and have paid the banks tens and tens of thousands of my hard earned money in interest, fines etc. etc. Always looking for the next loan, the next consolidation.

When I think what I could have built up.....My life changes now, at 40, it's not too late for me. I'm just trying to think of a way to get this message across to my 3 young boys because although I've had a great life, it's been blighted really by debt and it's all come home to roost now. Thank god.

Put it this way, we have really lovely M+S sofa. We got it on one of those 12 month interest free jobbies and we did pay it off in time......with a credit card....It's nearly 10 years old now and holding up well to kids and dogs so it's a good sofa but I STILL HAVEN'T PAID FOR IT! Not really, not truly.

So that's my embarrasing mistake. I screwed up 20 years of my life. Ho hum.

Ilona

I was sick of my job and thought it would be a good idea to start my own business. I know, food, everyone wants food. I bought a brand new catering trailer, generator, and all the equipment I would need. Did a food hygiene course, got a pitch on an industrial estate and off I went.

What I hadn't thought about was getting up at 5am, dragging trailer to the pitch, setting things up, standing in the freezing cold waiting for customers in November, and cooking bacon sausage and burgers, the smell made me feel sick, I don't eat meat. Then dragging trailer home, cleaning down, then buying stock for next day.

It was horrible. I hated doing the same thing day in day out, being stuck in one place, totally different to my previous life of lorry driving.

It cost me £7,500 to get set up, I sold the lot for £6,000. Luckily I paid cash for a big part of it and had a bit on an interest free credit card, which was soon paid off once I went back to my old job. What a stupid move that was. :rotfl:
Ilona

LondonGirl252

Great thread idea...

Mine is ever applying for an overdraft in the first place - I lived at home, paid £50pm in board to parents and had no other outgoings on a £15k salary.
That spiralled into credit cards when I moved out.
Then Loans thinking it was a quick fix.

It was all a huge mistake and I'm horribly embarrased that I never admit it to anyone I know, but Im glad I have MSE who understand and help and its now finally going down.

frmyody

In 12 months I have spent £55,519.40 and have nothing to show for it -- all cash though, no debt, thankfully. I don't think I'll ever live this stupidity down.

cottonhead

I have done so many shameful things with money that I kind of got used to the embarassment. Having card declined in the local shop with a work colleague stood in the queue behind wasnt great ! also walking home in pouring rain pretending I was trying to get fit but really had no money for the bus !!..... scrubbing the bottom of a pair of shoes so it looked they hadnt been worn and then taking them back to the shop for a refund.... selling my jewellery etc etc . However what I can no longer live with is the guilt I feel when my daughter asks for something and I cant provide it. Im not talking expensive toys etc but maybe a bag of sweets or a magazine. I sometimes avoid going out because I always seem to be saying no not today etc etc. Providing for my family is what makes me want to break out of debt.

barbiedoll

Our worst mistake? Remortgaging our house to release money to pay off credit cards and loans. Which was all well and good, it wasn't a huge amount, the interest rate was very good and we had enough money to pay the small monthly rise in repayments.

But......of course, we started spending on the now-clear credit cards, ended up getting a loan to pay them off and now, 5 years, one LBM and one DMP later..............:(

I wish I'd shouted louder at the time, I really could see what was going to happen. I'd never let us get in that situation again and thankfully, DH has had his LBM too, so we're both seeing things clearly now.

Like many of you, I am eternally grateful to Tixy, and others, who give up their free time so that we can benefit from their experience, knowledge and wisdom. I don't know where we'd be without this site!
:T:T:T