'I ran up £1,000s in debt while suffering from depression... now I'm digging myself out of it'

MSE_Kelvin

I usually write blogs as the 'MoneySavingIdiot', chronicling my attempts to practice what we preach at MSE (the last one was on switching bank accounts). But as this is a more personal blog, written ahead of World Mental Health Day 2019 on Thursday, I thought it would be better coming from MSE Kelvin. So, here's my tale of my own mental health struggles and how I've battled credit card debt...

Read the full blog: 'I ran up £1,000s in debt while suffering from depression... now I'm digging myself out of it'

adindas

'I ran up £1,000s in debt while suffering from depression... now I'm digging myself out of it'

"I owed around £15,000 in total and, while that may not sound like a lot of money to some, it was to me. Without a job, I couldn't cough up the minimum payments each month any more than I could sneeze diamonds."

I didn't end up getting the full £9,000 credit limit I'd applied for, but shifting £6,650 of credit card debt from over 20% interest to 0% interest was better than a poke in the eye with a sticky stick."

That highligted bit is very interesting.
I wonder which creditcard company is willing to give you credit of £6,650 if you do not have a job and you already have a debt of £15,000 ?

MSE_Kelvin

Afternoon adindas,

Thanks for your comment. I actually had a job when I applied for that credit, as explained in the paragraph below the second one you quoted:

Around the same time I got a new job, started paying as much as I could afford off each card every month (about £250 in total), and things were looking up.

Probably could have made that a bit clearer, but it was tricky to write as there was a lot to get in as the blog covers a few years.

Hope that helps,

MSE Kelvin :beer:

adindas wrote: »

'I ran up £1,000s in debt while suffering from depression... now I'm digging myself out of it'

"I owed around £15,000 in total and, while that may not sound like a lot of money to some, it was to me. Without a job, I couldn't cough up the minimum payments each month any more than I could sneeze diamonds."

I didn't end up getting the full £9,000 credit limit I'd applied for, but shifting £6,650 of credit card debt from over 20% interest to 0% interest was better than a poke in the eye with a sticky stick."

That highligted bit is very interesting.
I wonder which creditcard company is willing to give you credit of £6,650 if you do not have a job and you already have a debt of £15,000 ?

Ste_777

Hi Kelvin
ny debt lead to an attempted suicide, i had at one point a healthy bank balance but loneliness and depression lead me to spiral out of control and I used all the money in my account as a way to combat both, I didn’t buy or spend it on extravagant things just regular bouts of shopping disguised and hid a deep rooted depression Inside me , I lost everything, thousands, Money I’ll never get back, I’m 50 and having to start all over again, I feel worthless and ashamed it eats away me every day what I lost,  I have zero money in my account now, I live hand to mouth my furloughed income as soon it goes in to my account after rent, council tax, energy bills etc I’m left with very little, not enough to save anything substantial,  the loneliness and depression is still there as is a growing sense of failure and regret and what worries me most of all is the coming weeks when I’ll be made redundant, with no income coming in I know my mind is going to turn back to the healthy bank balance I once had as opposed  to the debt I now have and it will drag me under once more , some people use alcohol some use drugs I used money to give me that momentary sense of happiness Of belonging , I’m finding it hard to see a light at the end of the tunnel even with regular calls to the Samaritans I can’t find a way to put it behind me and focus on a recovery because it’s constantly on mind all the time.