What is your most embarrassing financial confession?

sparkley84

Mine is taking out loads of credit cards and just spending like crazy on them without ever checking the statements. I had maxed out my Barclaycard and I got a text from them saying they'd increased my credit limit, so I just carried on spending. What I'm most ashamed of is that for all these thousands of pounds in debt I've racked up, I have nothing to show for it. I don't have a fancy car or anything. I just frittered it all away on clothes and living a lifestyle I couldn't afford. I'm so ashamed and embarassed by that.

hp48910

Mine is buying a car on a credit card with 10 months 0% because at that particular time I had the funds to clear the card by the time the promotional period expired.....Well that was the theory....2 years later, it still makes up most of the balance on the card and is consierably more than 0%

Fab thread btw ;O)

brighteyes1987

When I was 18 I "had to move out" so took out a loan for all furniture, bond rent etc...
most stupid thing I ever did, I was actually on a really good wage living at home free of charge with no outgoings at all, I could have saved the amount borrowed in less than a year...
loans turned to credit cards as I played host to everyone with expensive foods and drink just because I could..

Needless to say 6 months later I made the walk of shame back home to my parents, sold up all furniture at about 25% of what I paid for it and spent the next 6 years paying it all off...
GGGRRRRR, makes me mad thinking about it!!!

nahnahnat

I, for reason unknown, decided to get an overdraft when I was about 18/19 because my bank said i'd been pre-approved. I didn't need an overdraft facility; I wasn't on a fantastic wage but I guess a decent one and I was living at home and probably paying less than £200 a month. They offered me £800 and I thought it was a bit much so accepted £400, but within a few days i'd decided to take the £800. That was the beginning. Fast forward 7 years and I am now £18,820.87 in debt! I have a decent car and some other nice things that I appreciate greatly, but other than that I have nothing to show for the other £15,000 or so.


Also, I had a boyfriend that was terrible with money (my cheeks are flushing at the thought of this) and I pretty much supported him throughout our relationship. He wasted his own money and I bought him things he wanted/needed and paid his bills etc when he was out of work or on a low income. When he finally managed to get a high paying job was when our relationship had face planted the deck. Typical. He still owed me lots when we parted ways. LESSON LEARNED.

debbie_debt

Mine was, without a doubt, my general cavalier attitude to money. For years as a single (working) mum, I simply spent at will until my switch card stopped working, then I just pulled out the credit card until the end of the month. I didn't even consider what I put on there - I even remember ringing Dominoes pizza (could I have found a more stupidly expensive takeaway?!) and paying over the phone with my credit card, just because I fancied a pizza, and this was a fairly regular occurance. I never once stopped to say to myself "is this worth getting into debt for?". I just considered Mr Visa to be my friend who carried me over to the end of the month and gave my son the lovely family days out/toys etc that I felt he deserved. It wasn't a problem to me.

This lasted for YEARS until I woke up one day over £20,000 in debt with nothing to show for it - I hadn't had a holiday in years, my house could do with decorating and I had an old banger of a car. Therefore, I had nothing to sell to pay it off and I'm still paying for it now.

STUPIDITY!!!!!!!!!

=booboo=

I wasnt great at running my finances when i was younger, but got by and paid things off.

Then one day i met a girl and fell head over heels.. she lived a long way away and it all contributed to that feeling of desire that i needed to be with her.

Within 4 months i had moved down to the south west into a flat with her and GOT MARRIED!!! all paid for by my CC's as she had 8k of student loans (for a course she never finished)..

3 years later and all fallen apart, it took me another 3 years just to clear the cards of which we'd funded the early days together and the wedding. Wont go into the other debts that had accumulated over the time together. So wish id taken my time to work out if she was actually right for me..

natlie

Hi
Ihave loads - where do I start?

I took out a £750 loan for rent and then couldnt pay loan or rent and moved back in with my mum I was 19
I had a baby with a horrible guy who I never claimed Chils Support from
I paid for hoidays with money I added to my morgage
I used to get tons of parking/speeding tickets because I was disorganised and late
I make unnecessary purchases because I spend too long on the internet
I bought a £130 suit for a job interview - didnt get the job then sold the suit on ebay for £25
I'd spend up to £3000 on xmas
I bought my sister a £180 necklace for her 30th birthday 2011, spent £200 on her for xmas 2010 and £200 on a trip away for her wedding Jan 2011 and paid for loads for her hen do £150 ARGH
I used to spend £500 a month on groceries

I had my LBM in October - everything has changed now
Nat

newgirly

Great thread, my confession is :

Bought house in 2001 for £120k , with a £93K mortgage

Borrowed and re-mortgaged until in 2010 we owed £171K

Thank goodness for mse, I have joined the mortgage free wanabees and we now owe £149K, our income has dropped a lot in the last year but we are paying it off at about 15K a year.

Previously we were overspending at about £10k per year.:eek:

Like a lot of others on here we don't even have much to show for it, had we not been so stupid we could have moved somewhere bigger with our ever growing 3 kids.

missrlr

I left uni without any student loans, without credit card debt and a £200 overdraft, cleared in a month following graduation. Managed my finances well, had a loan to buy a new car when my old banger died and I had a job - on a 0% deal from Dad; bought first house at 29 with deposit I had saved for, rented room out and used money to overpay mortgage, bought the car I had always wanted. Never had credit card debt, have got cards for various spending (Amex for cash back, Post Office for use abroad etc) always paid off in full plus working for a 6 month income buffer in an ISA and chipping away at the mortgage.
What is the issue I hear you ask .... sadly it all went up the proverbial creek without a paddle at age 31.

Long story short I had a disaster flood in house and was very unwell in hospital so passed it all over to a friend of a neighbour to sort - he had a building company. Insurance paid no issues until 18 months later when I was advised the building company had acted fraudulently and I had to repay the entire amount the insurance company had paid on the claim, plus had the insurance policy cancelled! £13870 of which not a penny had I seen. Much advice and shouting later and I am repaying this amount at £200 per month on an interest free basis.
Couple to this meeting my now husband and knowing he had debt but not really knowing how much and then Sunday actually finding out he has £25k on one loan and £10k on another and work may be changing his contract to effectively mean a 30% drop in income within 9 months and no more overtime. That was his confession moment.
We had not sold my house but rented it - equity is apparently not greater than 25% so cannot change to interest only mortgage, and Friday being told tenant is terminally ill so possibly no income she can't afford the rent; but the bills still have to be paid.
His house is interest only mortgage - oh and actually the deposit he put down was from his parents .....
So I am at the age of (nearly) 35 (as the nasty security question of Barclaycard made me calculate - how rude was that?) with a total debt of £120250 on a mortgage and £10k on a 0% repayment plus £45k loans and a £205k mortgage for husband.

£380500 ish in debt when literally in 2007 I was £120k in debt mortgage only and had 2 cars bought and paid for and could reduce the mortgage to a 15 year clearance by overpaying.

I feel sick - that is the first time I have written that down.

So - we are taking along hard look at everything and making a battle plan. Within 5 years we will be down to a mortgage on repayment basis, that is my aim.

Back to the spreadsheets and plotting - sometimes yes we cat foolishly but sometimes we have foolishness thrust upon us!

laptop80

missrlr wrote: »

I left uni without any student loans, without credit card debt and a £200 overdraft, cleared in a month following graduation. Managed my finances well, had a loan to buy a new car when my old banger died and I had a job - on a 0% deal from Dad; bought first house at 29 with deposit I had saved for, rented room out and used money to overpay mortgage, bought the car I had always wanted. Never had credit card debt, have got cards for various spending (Amex for cash back, Post Office for use abroad etc) always paid off in full plus working for a 6 month income buffer in an ISA and chipping away at the mortgage.
What is the issue I hear you ask .... sadly it all went up the proverbial creek without a paddle at age 31.

Long story short I had a disaster flood in house and was very unwell in hospital so passed it all over to a friend of a neighbour to sort - he had a building company. Insurance paid no issues until 18 months later when I was advised the building company had acted fraudulently and I had to repay the entire amount the insurance company had paid on the claim, plus had the insurance policy cancelled! £13870 of which not a penny had I seen. Much advice and shouting later and I am repaying this amount at £200 per month on an interest free basis.
Couple to this meeting my now husband and knowing he had debt but not really knowing how much and then Sunday actually finding out he has £25k on one loan and £10k on another and work may be changing his contract to effectively mean a 30% drop in income within 9 months and no more overtime. That was his confession moment.
We had not sold my house but rented it - equity is apparently not greater than 25% so cannot change to interest only mortgage, and Friday being told tenant is terminally ill so possibly no income she can't afford the rent; but the bills still have to be paid.
His house is interest only mortgage - oh and actually the deposit he put down was from his parents .....
So I am at the age of (nearly) 35 (as the nasty security question of Barclaycard made me calculate - how rude was that?) with a total debt of £120250 on a mortgage and £10k on a 0% repayment plus £45k loans and a £205k mortgage for husband.

£380500 ish in debt when literally in 2007 I was £120k in debt mortgage only and had 2 cars bought and paid for and could reduce the mortgage to a 15 year clearance by overpaying.

I feel sick - that is the first time I have written that down.

So - we are taking along hard look at everything and making a battle plan. Within 5 years we will be down to a mortgage on repayment basis, that is my aim.

Back to the spreadsheets and plotting - sometimes yes we cat foolishly but sometimes we have foolishness thrust upon us!

Feel for you - life really isn't fair sometimes. You try and do everything right and circumstances conspire against you. Hope things start looking up for you now - sounds like you've got a good head on your shoulders so I'm sure you'll get there.