Feeling more like an adult again!

pinkfairykelly

Hi all,

I am new to the site and just wanted to discuss my situation (Like most I'm sure it's like a black cloud and almost a dirty secret! It's how I feel!)

I am 31 now but when I was 21 I went a bit crazy with catalogs and credit cards and my overdraft. Ended up with about 10k of debt.
Over the years I have managed to pay most of it off, I have £2k left to pay which unfortunately is part of a CCJ that I got 17 months ago.

So I figured as I'm older and wiser and have just split with my partner I really needed to look at something for a "rainy day" and know my options were limited.

I placed an order on Very.co.uk account last month (Purely by accident as pressed the wrong button to select Credit Account) and was shocked to see that I was accepted with a limit of £300! So this is the beginning I thought, I got my statement and paid it off in full!

I was googling about Very and saw that Littlewoods are the same company but that the account is different with different limits so I thought I'd give that a go too and was accepted for £500 limit. Again I got the statement and paid it off in full.

As it stands I've since placed another order on Littlewoods for £38 and this will be paid in full when I get the statement and my Very account is at £0.

My next thought was a credit card (mainly as my car exhaust is probably going to meet the road shortly!

I applied for a Capital One card and was accepted for 34.4% APR and a small limit of £200. This suits me just fine as I will only be using it and paying it off straight away anyway.

I have also applied and been accepted for a Barclaycard Initial at 34.4% APR and a limit of £400 with 0% on purchases for 3 months. I'm currently waiting for the card to come through (Yay! I can get the car fixed and put nothing else on it and spread it until it is ALL paid off before the 3 months is up!)

I realise as I type this that this all sounds like a lot to have in one go but I will not be even contemplating applying for anything else for at least a year when I will maybe start to look at better credit cards.

It's just such a good feeling that I feel like an acceptable adult again and what's more that I have learnt from my mistakes and would never even risk doing that again!

Also as I have split with my partner it's nice knowing that if I get invited out with friends for dinner that I could go once without having to say that I can't afford it this month!

I am sorry to ramble on but it's a relief and is good to get this out there.

I survived the worst, I'm not over it yet, but I've got my 2nd chance to do it all better! :j

dirtycredit

Firstly well done for paying everything off you've done really well. :T

But massive alarm bells are ringing to be honest. I know you got a second chance but if I were you I wouldn't do it on credit. Speaking from experience it's totally possible that you haven't learnt your lesson and have to get out of shed loads of debt TWICE in your life! Why tempt yourself?

If you only got the last CCJ within in the last two years you might need to give your self a bit longer off of the credit cards. When my debts are paid I'm not going near credit at all I just can't trust myself and the thought of going through the pain of paying it all off again (and having a 'dirty little secret' as you put it) makes this an easy decision now.

If you can pay the stuff off straight away can you just save for things like the car?

DC x

January2015

First occassion buying from Very was an accident in clicking for an account. You did the correct thing and paid is straight off. Why one earth would you then go and apply for/open credit accounts elsewhere.

You have already stated you will be paying them straight off - so you don't need them. Why are you opening these accounts then????

You are creating temptation you don't need - get rid of those accounts asap. Formally write and close the accounts asap.

You've done an amazing job clearing your debts already - I've read a few threads on this forum where people have done this and then slipped back into old habits and before they knew they had large debts again. You are at the beginning of that slippery slope and can sort it out before it becomes a mountain (of debt). Do yourself a huge favour and close those accounts now.

andyfromotley

Hi Kelly and welcome.

You have done a great job on sorting yourself out so far. But................................ why are yoou playing with fire again? You have now the potential to spend £1400 that you dont have, and then risk having it sit there at awful interest rates. Why would you take such a risk? Particularly when it worked out so badly for you last time?

Your thinking also needs a little bit of shift, really grown up action is buying stuff that you have saved for! You obviously are getting a thrill out of being accepted for this credit, why is that? Credit for some (me included) Is a bad thing, not a good thing!! I suspect that you probably also get such a thrill out of buying stuff too? Sadly i think that instead of being on the road to recovery as you see it, you may well e on the road to ruin.

I dont mean to sound harsh honestly. But the story you are telling is so similar to the strart of many peoples on here who end up with many many thoudands in debt! It is possible to live a life entirely without peronal credit, thats what im aiming for.

sourcrates

Massive alarm bells are ringing here also.


Why are you buying from catalogues, where the prices are 20% higher than say amazon ?


Its all too easy to slide back into debt with behaviour like this, believe me, because you will keep doing it, applying for more credit, as it can become an addiction.


It only takes one month of not been able to meet your commitments, and Bingo !!


I would stop this now, while you can.

Lemonsqueezer78

Welcome to the evil "credit trap" which millions and millions of people fall for every year.

You have very effectively spelt out EXACTLY how people "accidentally" fall in to the debt cycle. Racking it up - paying it off - and then doing it all over again.

You get a small amount of credit and it makes you feel good. In your own words it makes you feel like a grown up. So well, what's the harm? It's only a small amount right and I promise to myself that I'll just use it a bit and then I'll absolutely pay it off in full every month.

Except, you don't. One month, you have a moment of madness and make an impulsive purchase - you know, just to treat yourself. You've been working really hard lately, and you've had a bad day and you see something you like and you think "why not - I've got the credit, my bank trust me as an adult - and I deserve it and maybe I'll just pay it over over 2 months this time, rather than one"... and it's feel good to be trusted with money - and it feels even better to treat yourself every now and again.

And so it begins.

Slowly at first, but as sure as sure can be, you steadily start to justify more and more. It feels good that someone trusts you with credit and treats you like an adult - and it feels good to treat yourself.

I'm sorry if this all sounds really patronising. After all, you did this all before and know what to do this time right? Wrong. You are seriously risking becoming of the many many people who pay off all their debts - and then the second they are almost there, start to get a taste for credit and borrowing all over again. And it doesn't bode well that you are so excited at being given credit (as if this is a sign from the universe that you are a now a proper grown up?), that you post a thread about it again. Maybe I'll try to say it a bit more bluntly instead....

STOP! Stop now. Cancel "Very", cancel "Littlewoods". Cancel at least one the credit cards. Do it now. They gave you the credit and if you see that as a sign you are back to being a respectable adult, then great. You don't actually need to keep the accounts now - just giving them to you in the first place should be enough to give you the good feels.

Keep one of the cards if you really must, for emergencies or whatever. But please don't do what we have seen literally COUNTLESS people on these boards do. That includes a large number of people who swore blind they had learned their lesson and would never do it again.

They did.

enthusiasticsaver

Like others above massive alarm bells are ringing for me that you are still enamoured with credit and see that being accepted for new shiny credit cards is a good thing. They are a huge money spinner for the credit card companies when the inevitable happens and you use the cards but are tight one month and don't pay it off in full then the following month you have two months spending to pay off and before you know where you are you have huge debts again. The interest rates are extortionate so you will need to be very strict with yourself and it is easy to overspend when you have a purse full of credit cards. Please do not go there as it will be a source of misery for you and much worse than saying to your friends you cannot afford to go out for a meal if you really cannot afford to do that.


The answer moving forward and as a grown up you can do this is to budget for everything - rent, bills, food, travel, entertainment, clothes etc and use cash or current accounts and only use credit cards for large items for the guarantees and pay off in full each time. Save for holidays, etc and a rainy day fund/emergencies. Then you will be handling your finances like a grown up.

Lemonsqueezer78

I always feel a bit guilty about these kinds of threads. Its obvious these are not going to be the kinds of responses the OP was expecting.

I hope they realise that the reason they are getting the response they are, is because a great many of us have been there. We've made these exact same mistakes. Fallen back in to the cycle of debt... once, some twice, some even more times than that.

I just hope they take these comments as they are intended - a desperate and heartfelt attempt to stop them doing something they will regret, based on our own (horrible) experiences.

sourcrates

Lemonsqueezer78 wrote: »

Welcome to the evil "credit trap" which millions and millions of people fall for every year.

You have very effectively spelt out EXACTLY how people "accidentally" fall in to the debt cycle. Racking it up - paying it off - and then doing it all over again.

You get a small amount of credit and it makes you feel good. In your own words it makes you feel like a grown up. So well, what's the harm? It's only a small amount right and I promise to myself that I'll just use it a bit and then I'll absolutely pay it off in full every month.

Except, you don't. One month, you have a moment of madness and make an impulsive purchase - you know, just to treat yourself. You've been working really hard lately, and you've had a bad day and you see something you like and you think "why not - I've got the credit, my bank trust me as an adult - and I deserve it and maybe I'll just pay it over over 2 months this time, rather than one"... and it's feel good to be trusted with money - and it feels even better to treat yourself every now and again.

And so it begins.

Slowly at first, but as sure as sure can be, you steadily start to justify more and more. It feels good that someone trusts you with credit and treats you like an adult - and it feels good to treat yourself.

I'm sorry if this all sounds really patronising. After all, you did this all before and know what to do this time right? Wrong. You are seriously risking becoming of the many many people who pay off all their debts - and then the second they are almost there, start to get a taste for credit and borrowing all over again. And it doesn't bode well that you are so excited at being given credit (as if this is a sign from the universe that you are a now a proper grown up?), that you post a thread about it again. Maybe I'll try to say it a bit more bluntly instead....

STOP! Stop now. Cancel "Very", cancel "Littlewoods". Cancel at least one the credit cards. Do it now. They gave you the credit and if you see that as a sign you are back to being a respectable adult, then great. You don't actually need to keep the accounts now - just giving them to you in the first place should be enough to give you the good feels.

Keep one of the cards if you really must, for emergencies or whatever. But please don't do what we have seen literally COUNTLESS people on these boards do. That includes a large number of people who swore blind they had learned their lesson and would never do it again.

They did.

Top Post !!


Tells it like it is.


Post of the month for me this !!!!

Sanctioned_Parts_List

Lemonsqueezer78 wrote: »

Welcome to the evil "credit trap" which millions and millions of people fall for every year.

You have very effectively spelt out EXACTLY how people "accidentally" fall in to the debt cycle. Racking it up - paying it off - and then doing it all over again.

You get a small amount of credit and it makes you feel good. In your own words it makes you feel like a grown up. So well, what's the harm? It's only a small amount right and I promise to myself that I'll just use it a bit and then I'll absolutely pay it off in full every month.

Except, you don't. One month, you have a moment of madness and make an impulsive purchase - you know, just to treat yourself. You've been working really hard lately, and you've had a bad day and you see something you like and you think "why not - I've got the credit, my bank trust me as an adult - and I deserve it and maybe I'll just pay it over over 2 months this time, rather than one"... and it's feel good to be trusted with money - and it feels even better to treat yourself every now and again.

And so it begins.

Slowly at first, but as sure as sure can be, you steadily start to justify more and more. It feels good that someone trusts you with credit and treats you like an adult - and it feels good to treat yourself.

I'm sorry if this all sounds really patronising. After all, you did this all before and know what to do this time right? Wrong. You are seriously risking becoming of the many many people who pay off all their debts - and then the second they are almost there, start to get a taste for credit and borrowing all over again. And it doesn't bode well that you are so excited at being given credit (as if this is a sign from the universe that you are a now a proper grown up?), that you post a thread about it again. Maybe I'll try to say it a bit more bluntly instead....

STOP! Stop now. Cancel "Very", cancel "Littlewoods". Cancel at least one the credit cards. Do it now. They gave you the credit and if you see that as a sign you are back to being a respectable adult, then great. You don't actually need to keep the accounts now - just giving them to you in the first place should be enough to give you the good feels.

Keep one of the cards if you really must, for emergencies or whatever. But please don't do what we have seen literally COUNTLESS people on these boards do. That includes a large number of people who swore blind they had learned their lesson and would never do it again.

They did.

^^^ THIS

So good it bears repeating thrice.

(I got myself debt free in 2010 and decided to use an uncancelled CC to finance a home renovation in 2010/11 on a second home as "it was only for that and I can track it easily". It all went very sadly wrong. See sig for how wrong.)

heuchera

Just replace the word credit with the word debt.

I am applying for and using a debt card. With a debt of £---- on it.

Banks don't lend money because they think you are an adult, or because they are your friends. They rely on people like you to pay off only the minimum each month so they can earn on the interest.

Why not start a savings account, so that you can afford your occasional treats and necessities?