Now what...

BuilditBack

Hi,
Where do I start. Controlling the tears would be a good start actually.
So here goes.
6 years ago I used this site to help rid myself of debt. It worked amazing. I cleared my credit cards, cleared my mortgage and built a hefty amount of savings. I lived incredibly frugally for a long period of time and saved like mad. Life was put on hold until I got myself in a really healthy financial position. I even had a giant stroke of luck and qualified for £100k of shares from my company I worked for (45k net). Everything was rosy. I'd worked really hard on fixing my financial position and was beginning to enjoy the benefits of my efforts.

24 months ago I decided I would try and invest my money into property to help me, my wife and daughter level up further. I figured property was the best vehicle for my money. What's safer than houses right?
I paid £15k to a guru I had read about who had made serious amounts of money following a particular property strategy. What I paid for turned out to be horrendous advice on the best way to use my money. (The Guru subsequently went bankrupt but is already back earning big money selling courses)
On the advice of the guru, the first step I took was I remortgaged my house to get a bigger pot of cash to make some really exciting investments. What an IDIOT!

Long story short, bridging finance supported an extremely large purchase I made. A massive deposit and refurbishment costs utilised all of my money.
The plan was to buy, refurb and refinance the properties and walk away holding the asset with most of my money back in the bank. Simple as that.
Unfortunately the advice I was given on refinancing didn't materialise and the bottom line is I couldn't pay back the bridge and I've lost £130k and built up £16k worth of credit card debt.

One hundred and fourty six thousand pounds.

I've contemplated suicide on a number of occasions. I cry everyday. I feel as though my life's work has gone and that I will never ever get back what I've lost.
I'm never going to get share options like that again. My cash flow has gone due to debt. I feel I'm in a giant black hole that I can't escape from.
But I'm going to try.
This website was an incredible help to me once upon a time and I'm hoping it will be again. (I won't be revealing my previous forum handle)

I'm 38 years old. I earn 35k per year. My wife has a part time job and makes around £600 per month.

I'd love to hear from people who have faced similar losses and recovered from it.
I feel incredibly lonely and guilty and really really stupid and idiotic right now.

But we go again eh, what else can we do?

Thanks for listening. It helps a lot to write this down for the first time. I can't and won't tell my friends or family due to the embarrassment of it all.

I've started by listing some of my stuff on eBay. I'm going to keep selling stuff on eBay each month and pumping it into my credit cards.
I've given my lovely car back and will be buying a really cheap motor to get me around. The spare money will go into my credit cards.

That's about it for now.
I'm looking forward to being a regular here.

Mara_uk7

Hiya . Welcome and well done on taking the first step. Hang around, more friendly folk will be along shortly.

another_casualty

Well, first things first . Forget about suicide . That’ll achieve nothing .
You still have a job that pays well. Your other half has income as well.
You have a daughter. You are not even 40 . All this means is that you have time to get out of this mess. You’re not the first to do something spectacularly wrong on investments . Even celebrities have been taken in and shafted . You have lived a life ,one way or another.
So many of us have been there in one way or another , or even worse.

So, with all that been said and the fact that you had great advice on here before , you know what to do next . Fill out the s o a and people on Here will be falling over themselves to give you clear constructive advice . I think that once you heed this , you won’t make anymore mistakes .

Don’t scrimp too much and inflict a miserable Christmas with the family . Treat it the best way you can and plan ahead for after Christmas . Your health( and your families ) comes first .

So don’t get too stressed out . Just breathe and await the replies and imminent help.
Best of luck

UncannyScot

Hello and welcome

You've been on forum before so you'll know just how supportive folks are on here...

There are a few of us on here who have lost everything, or almost everything and are trying to rebuild our lives again.
You are not on your own, we're all in this together and as a community we try and help everyone.

You've taken that first all important step and have came back on here to help get your focus and resolve back in order to rebuild again.
We will help you with anything we can, so if you need any advice or info just ask / post up on here.

Come and visit folks diaries, read, comment and join in...

Look forward to you being a regular on here

[Deleted User]

Welcome back BuilditBack.

Will be following your journey x

doingitanyway

Builditback you will. You have time. You'll be okay. You have taken an important first step. Hugs.

BuilditBack

Thank you for the comments.

SOA below.

Statement of Affairs and Personal Balance Sheet

Household Information
Number of adults in household........... 2
Number of children in household......... 1
Number of cars owned.................... 1

Monthly Income Details
Monthly income after tax................ 2150
Partners monthly income after tax....... 500
Benefits................................ 82.8
Other income............................ 0
Total monthly income.................... 2732.8

Monthly Expense Details
Mortgage................................ 270
Secured/HP loan repayments.............. 0
Rent.................................... 0
Management charge (leasehold property).. 0
Council tax............................. 103
Electricity............................. 80
Gas..................................... 30
Oil..................................... 0
Water rates............................. 35
Telephone (land line)................... 0
Mobile phone............................ 70
TV Licence.............................. 14
Satellite/Cable TV...................... 77
Internet Services....................... 0
Groceries etc. ......................... 300
Clothing................................ 40
Petrol/diesel........................... 120
Road tax................................ 0
Car Insurance........................... 70
Car maintenance (including MOT)......... 30
Car parking............................. 5
Other travel............................ 73.66
Childcare/nursery....................... 0
Other child related expenses............ 60
Medical (prescriptions, dentist etc).... 0
Pet insurance/vet bills................. 10
Buildings insurance..................... 8
Contents insurance...................... 0
Life assurance ......................... 0

Other insurance......................... 0
Presents (birthday, christmas etc)...... 100
Haircuts................................ 20
Entertainment........................... 100
Holiday................................. 100
Emergency fund.......................... 0
Gym..................................... 19.99
Lottery................................. 18
Everton Season Tickets.................. 103
Total monthly expenses.................. 1856.65


Assets
Cash.................................... 2500
House value (Gross)..................... 85000
Shares and bonds........................ 0
Car(s).................................. 0
Other assets............................ 0
Total Assets............................ 87500


Secured & HP Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Mortgage...................... 64333....(270)......0
Total secured & HP debts...... 64333.....-.........-

Unsecured Debts
Description....................Debt......Monthly...APR
Barclaycard....................1828......47........18.9
Halifax........................13578.....140.......0
Car Lease......................0.........270.......0
Total unsecured debts..........15406.....457.......-


Monthly Budget Summary
Total monthly income.................... 2,732.8
Expenses (including HP & secured debts). 1,856.65
Available for debt repayments........... 876.15
Monthly UNsecured debt repayments....... 457
Amount left after debt repayments....... 419.15

Personal Balance Sheet Summary
Total assets (things you own)........... 87,500
Total HP & Secured debt................. -64,333
Total Unsecured debt.................... -15,406
Net Assets.............................. 7,761



* Mobile Phones covers two phones. Wife and Daughter
* Satellite covers TV, Broadband and phone line.
* Halifax is currently interest free.

Some quick wins will happen:
* My wife is looking for a full time job.
* My lease car will go back (No doubt with charges to pay)
* Barclaycard should be wiped out before long

Drawingaline

Hello and welcome back.

Well done on coming here and laying everything out. You are not the first and will not be the last to get yourself into this kind of situation, as someone else said even celebrities can find these things happen to them too.

Good news, you are young, you can turn this around. You have done it before, you know how it works. I will say don't try and live too frugally, especially if you have had an extended period doing so previously. Allow some fun in the budget. But you have a good surplus to put to debt, and it sounds like you and your wife are working as a team, always important.

Good luck!

WannabeFree

There's obviously quite a few bits that can be cut back in you SOA, which you'll know from doing it before.

However the main question is do you really have the £400 a month leftover?

You need to chuck as much as you can at the card you're being charged interest on. It wouldn't take too long if you cut back a little and really did have the £419 a month left.

Well done on coming back here, I'm sure you'll receive lots of lovely advice.

natsplatnat

Just flying by... a couple of comments from me...
Electricity seems a bit high?
Can you reduce your satellite package?
When does interest kick in on your Halifax balance?


On paper you already show a good surplus after your current repayments. Do you actually have this available? Time for a spending diary.
You've had a tough time, but you have the means to sort this out and build yourself up again!!


All the best, Nats x

MMC87

Sorry, don’t have any similar experience to draw on but I just want to say that I believe if you’ve got out of debt before you can do it again. Anyone can make a bad decision when it comes to money. You’ve got so much to live for. Come through!