how did you end up in debt?

monicamj · 5 July 2008 at 5:32PM

Good luck to everyone!

My DH and I got into debt through a few things.

He stopped working and spent a while recovering from an operation, this was just before we got married.
My wage was less that our outgoings so the credit cards racked up.
I suppose when he started working in september, instead of concentrating on paying the debt we just spent the money we had and then a little bit more than we had and well here we are.
There were a couple of big things, new computer, a new TV. (they did break however we probably spent more on the replacements than we could have done)
It's all so annoying to think that although to start with it was out of our control, if we had just thought about what we were doing we could have cleared our debt instead of increasing it.
Ah well - lessons learned.

WorkingHardDFW · 5 July 2008 at 5:40PM

We got into ours in what is I guess a pretty usual way:

Spending more than we earned
Not budgetting for but still spending on Birthdays, christmas,clothes etc
Not budgetting for but still having holidays
Oh buying a second car on a cash withdrawal on a CC (:eek: ) and me not stopping him
being on maternity leave and not adjusting our spending accordingly
A short period of my OH being unemployed (6 months)

I wish it was more exciting that what it actually was. We've had over the years some luck with has helped clear debts previously run up and also stopped us from facing reality. I am so glad that we've had our LBM since now we are living within our means and looking forward to having one hell of a lot more money when our debts are cleared next year.

Buzzbox · 5 July 2008 at 5:43PM

.... ours started when we moved to the UK a couple of years ago. Took us ages to get a job and we had to move and the estate agency took us for a ride... then we decided that we've got enough disipline to start studying.... *gulp*... lesson learnt!

warwickroadroad23 · 5 July 2008 at 5:44PM

I am in debt from living beyond my means and splashing out on stuff impulsively without saving for them first. All those £3 sandwiches and "little" things have really added up as well.

I just wish they would teach you about things like finance at school as no wonder people are getting into trouble when all the banks and loan companies are literally throwing money at them!

bringmeshoes · 5 July 2008 at 5:54PM

warwickroadroad23 wrote: »

I am in debt from living beyond my means and splashing out on stuff impulsively without saving for them first. All those £3 sandwiches and "little" things have really added up as well.

I just wish they would teach you about things like finance at school as no wonder people are getting into trouble when all the banks and loan companies are literally throwing money at them!

i totally agree that schools should have financial education lessons inwhich kids are taught all about credit cards and apr's. I know that if there were lessons like that when i was in school i would have been more savvy when the back started offering me creditcards & overdrafts when i was 18, and i'm soure i'm not the only person on here that thinks the same.
in a weird sort of way i'm kind of glad that i got into debt as working my a$$ off to pay it off and repair my credit rating has made me the person i am today, i did it all on my own with no help from anyone so it has made me much more independant and i know appreciate things more know that i know the true valie of them

hypno06 · 5 July 2008 at 5:55PM

Gemmzie wrote: »

I think we've got a lovely set of newbies here ready to form a solid support group, one day you'll all be debt free and helping the next set of newbies too. That's why I love this site
The support from each other is what'll get you through the hard days!

I agree with Gemmzie - the support on these boards is nothing short of fantastic.......:T

rubydoiwannabee · 5 July 2008 at 5:58PM

Thanks Hynpo, I know I for one will be around for a long time to come. Hoping to get lots of those stars against my name. How do you get them by the way?

bringmeshoes · 5 July 2008 at 6:05PM

rubydoiwannabee wrote: »

Thanks Hynpo, I know I for one will be around for a long time to come. Hoping to get lots of those stars against my name. How do you get them by the way?

it's to do with how manyposts you have, not sure how many you need for each star tho

hypno06 · 5 July 2008 at 6:11PM

rubydoiwannabee wrote: »

Thanks Hynpo, I know I for one will be around for a long time to come. Hoping to get lots of those stars against my name. How do you get them by the way?

I can't remember all the figures, but I think you get 3 stars at either 500 or 750 posts, 4 stars at 2000 posts, then you have to stop having a life altogether and post 10000 times before you get 5 stars

IWantToBeFree_2 · 5 July 2008 at 6:52PM

God where do I start.....

I had a job from when I was 16, and when I was 17/18 I was earning over £100 a week which for me was fantastic, and I never had any credit, and then I got a store card and it went from there...

Before I went to uni I bought some stuff on credit from PC world, printer and the like, it was buy now pay in 12 months, and the 12 months come round and I didn't have the money so I balance transferred it onto a credit card to save paying loads of interest.

Dropped out of uni and spent the first installment of loan instead of paying it back and also spent all my student overdraft.

I then had to have some 'cosmetic' surgery, the NHS wouldn't pay so I took out a small loan to pay for that.

I started applying for credit cards to get the cash back from rpoints and ended up spending on them and doing balance transfers. Learnt to drive and it was a novelty and I was spending loads a week on petrol, putting it on my works amex and then when I didn't have enough money to pay it back at end of month (had to pay balance in full) i just did a balance transfer from one of other cards.

I then met my current OH, and used to do things I couldn't really afford with him, then it hit home, I got a consolidation loan, but ran up another credit card paying for xmas, and ended up getting another loan to cover that.

OH was in debt from his previous relationship so he had a large consolidation loan and also another small credit card balance.

We then went on an expensive holiday, paid for that on credit....

Now, well we haven't used credit for ages (aside from our interest free sofa's) and determined to get out of this mess, and not got a lot to show for it!

how did you end up in debt?

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