11 years a slave - end of my journey from £103,500 in debt

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  • mjb-is
    mjb-is Posts: 7
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    Congratulations. I can understand your feeling because I am at that same point now and will have all my debts cleared tomorrow. Not as much as yours has been, but still just over £40k.

    The biggest advice I can give anyone is to swallow your pride and contact your creditors. I left that way too long and when I finally did it they were much more understanding and willing to reach agreements than I ever imagined. To you it's personal, but to your creditors it's just business and they want to find a way for you to pay back what you owe in an affordable way.
  • Onebrokelady
    Onebrokelady Posts: 7,327
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    I saw this post when you posted it and can’t rememe if I replied but I just want to say how inspiring you are,I have been feeling very overwhelmed by the money I owe but the combination of coming on this site and seeing posts like this have made me see there is a way out, whe im feeling despondent I will come back and read this to keep me going,well done to you 😊
    Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.9
  • brizzledfw
    brizzledfw Posts: 7,302
    Debt-free and Proud!
    Forumite
    Don’t be overwhelmed OBL...youre taking the first steps to emptying that lake :) Best of luck xx
    MFiT-T4 Member No. 96 - 2022 is my MF goal :D
    Winter 17/18 Savings Rate Goal: 25% [October 30%] :T
    Declutter 60 items before 31.03.18 9/60 ** LSDs Target 10 for March 03/10 **AFDs 10/15 ** Sales/TCB Target 2018 £25/£500 NSDs Target 10 for March 02/10 Trying to be a Frugalista:rotfl::T
  • brizzledfw wrote: »
    Don’t be overwhelmed OBL...youre taking the first steps to emptying that lake :) Best of luck xx
    Hi sorry I didn’t reply I’ve only just seen your post,I keep posting on the site and then can’t find my post,I’m so rubbish with find g my way round forums🙄 I’m feeling a bit calmer now I’ve started to sort things out it’s still taken me two weeks to get the paperwork sorted and the budget form filled in but I should be ready to contact SC in the next day or two then I will be weilding my spoon 😊
    Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.9
  • mjb-is wrote: »
    Congratulations. I can understand your feeling because I am at that same point now and will have all my debts cleared tomorrow. Not as much as yours has been, but still just over £40k.

    The biggest advice I can give anyone is to swallow your pride and contact your creditors. I left that way too long and when I finally did it they were much more understanding and willing to reach agreements than I ever imagined. To you it's personal, but to your creditors it's just business and they want to find a way for you to pay back what you owe in an affordable way.
    I just read your post and love the bit where you say “to you it’s personal but to your creditors it’s just business,I’ve been walking round for weeks thinking about this from my personal viewpoint and not thinking about the fact that my creditors are a massive organisation,I feel like I owe my best mate money and have let them down,it’s crazy and although I know I’m in the wrong and have to take responsibility for the money I owe it’s not personal at all and I will pay it back 😊
    Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.9
  • What a fantastic post, have been a long time lurker on here and have finally started to do something about my debt after reading your post a couple of weeks ago. Best wishes to you for a debt free future :)
  • A victory! Congrats.
  • Zandy_23
    Zandy_23 Posts: 60 Forumite
    A truly inspiring story. Thanks for sharing it! It teaches a lot of lessons on how to overcome money challenges amidst seemingly overwhelming odds.
  • sourcrates
    sourcrates Posts: 28,724
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    I just read your post and love the bit where you say “to you it’s personal but to your creditors it’s just business,I’ve been walking round for weeks thinking about this from my personal viewpoint and not thinking about the fact that my creditors are a massive organisation,I feel like I owe my best mate money and have let them down,it’s crazy and although I know I’m in the wrong and have to take responsibility for the money I owe it’s not personal at all and I will pay it back

    These feelings are very common amongst first time defaulters.

    Its all very confusing at first, with lots of stuff to get your head around, we don`t seem to talk about debt much in this country, its all hush hush, that`s one of the reasons people don`t know what to expect when they can`t pay their debts.

    You see there are systems in place to help you deal with these things, and the companies you owe money to, always build into their business model, the fact that a certain % of customers will default on there payments, so they plan for these things, they don`t lose out, what they don`t make off you, they make off someone else.

    Its all profit and loss to them.
    I’m a Forum Ambassador and I support the Forum Team on the Debt free wannabe, Credit file and ratings, and Bankruptcy and living with it boards. If you need any help on these boards, do let me know. Please note that Ambassadors are not moderators. Any posts you spot in breach of the Forum Rules should be reported via the report button, or by emailing forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com. All views are my own and not the official line of MoneySavingExpert.For free non-judgemental debt advice, contact either Stepchange, National Debtline, or CitizensAdviceBureaux.Link to SOA Calculator- https://www.stoozing.com/soa.php The "provit letter" is here-https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2607247/letter-when-you-know-nothing-about-about-the-debt-aka-prove-it-letter
  • sourcrates wrote: »
    These feelings are very common amongst first time defaulters.

    Its all very confusing at first, with lots of stuff to get your head around, we don`t seem to talk about debt much in this country, its all hush hush, that`s one of the reasons people don`t know what to expect when they can`t pay their debts.

    You see there are systems in place to help you deal with these things, and the companies you owe money to, always build into their business model, the fact that a certain % of customers will default on there payments, so they plan for these things, they don`t lose out, what they don`t make off you, they make off someone else.

    Its all profit and loss to them.
    I’m starting to see this now. I phoned my creditors a couple of days ago to let them know what was happening and I expected the Spanish Inquisition but they were all very matter of fact about it ,my only regret now is that I didn’t do something about it before instead of waiting until now,but here I am taking control and although I know there will be hiccups along the way it feels really good to be in control of my finances for once,I didn’t even used to check my bank account from one month to the next because I wa so worried about the lack of funds but now I’m keeping and eye on everything and I’ve allocated cash for all my spending so I know exactly what I have and most important of all I have an emergency fund which is something I have never had in my life,it’s feels really good to have a small safety net for a change,the next job is looking for better deals on the services ,this is something I hate doing but it’s got to be done
    Original Debt Owed Jan 18 = £17,630 Paid To Date = £6,080.1 Owed = £11,549.9
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