Thinking out loud about unmanageable debt

Paddledebtfree

I sent off my affordability claims to four of my five creditors today. In total, I have six credit cards and two loans, with around £75k of debt. I earn £82k.

For a long time, I honestly felt like I was the only person in the world who had managed to get themselves into this amount of debt. I’ve carried a huge amount of shame about it and have felt pretty awful about how I got here. But after reading so many posts on this forum, I’ve realised that I’m really not alone. There are others with similar levels of debt, and people earning considerably less who have ended up owing a similar proportion of their income.

It’s made me wonder about the bigger picture. How sustainable is the current credit and debt system when so many people seem to be caught so deeply in it? Do people think DMPs, DROs, IVAs and other debt solutions are at an all-time high, or is it simply that I’m more aware of them now because I’m going through this myself?

I’m genuinely curious about where all of this leads. With so many people seemingly relying on credit to get through each month, borrowing more to pay existing commitments, and then eventually needing some form of debt solution, how sustainable can the system be in the long term?

I’ve started receiving the obligatory texts and emails from creditors, and I’ll admit I have quite a lot of anxiety about the process of defaulting and self-managing everything. At the same time, I’m feeling a strange mixture of anger, relief and even a sense of freedom at finally stepping away from the cycle.

I know I’m accountable for the decisions I made, and I’m not trying to avoid that. I took out a huge amount of credit in a relatively short period of time, largely trying to survive and robbing Peter to pay Paul. But I also find myself looking back and thinking: how was I able to keep borrowing so much, so quickly? Surely there must be systems in place that are supposed to identify when someone is getting into serious difficulty?

I’m not trying to make excuses for myself. I’m just genuinely trying to understand it all.

For those of you who have been through this, do you think the current debt/credit system is sustainable? And have you noticed more and more people needing debt solutions over the years?

Maybe I’m just thinking out loud, but after everything I’ve read here, I can’t help wondering where the breaking point is or if there even is one!!

If you’ve read this far thanks!

FlorayG

I think credit is much too easy to get. I know someone who has recently maxed out her 4th credit card; she gets cards easily because she never misses a payment, but the CC companies never look into how much you owe, only how well you pay back. Now she has reached her limit and I don't know what she will do because she can't let go of the idea of being able to get credit.

Those of us who are careful, like me, have really poor credit scores because we don't use credit, we save up until we have the money to buy a thing we want, so it's difficult for me to get approval for credit. If you think about it, this is all the wrong way round morally but financially makes sense for the CC companies because they make a lot of money out of people who get in debt to them.

The whole credit system is immoral but money has never been moral. Best wishes and best of luck getting your debt sorted

tacpot12

I think that there aren't enough tools, regulations and support in place to protect people, especially people with mental health problems, who can be especially vulnerable to ovespending and then struggle to deal with the problem to a greater extent than even yourself. Getting involved in helping poeple in this situation could be very good for you. If you manage to navigate the situation, your insights could be useful to others.