Ooo, debt fun.
For a long time, I was the world's worst person for looking after money. My dad died, my brother and I shared his estate. Within the year I was back on my overdraft limit. I was at university, parents paying tuition and rent AND giving me a monthly allowance to live on.

I spent 21,000 pounds in one year on absolutely fuck-all.

At the end of uni, it turned out that one of my uncles had made provision for me when I was born. At the age of 21, I was given 6 grand. Within the year, I was back on my overdraft limit.

I temped for two years after uni because of the well-known problem of finding a job when you have an Arts degree. Credit cards and overdraft took hammerings.

March last year I took out a loan to learn to drive, buy a car and pay off debts. Within the year etc etc.

I have long since lost count of the amount of defaults I have made on payments. The end result is that at 26, I am blacklisted by all banks, everywhere. The upside is that I can't get myself further into debt because nobody will give me credit. Not even store cards. I'm actually glad about this on one level because I'm now a lot better with money and am actually living within my means and gradually paying everything off.

So. I owe 3 grand still on my loan, 2 and a half on my credit card and 400 on an overdraft.

This time last year it was 4 grand over two credit cards, 4 grand on the loan and a grand and a half on overdraft.

I'm still impressed with myself, five years later, on the sheer amount of money I spent at uni. 27,000 with nothing to show for it. Makes you sick, doesn't it.

EDIT: In my defence, my main problem was not being able to find a job. An English degree is great when you're actually at uni, but afterwards it's a lead weight. My first full time job was at the age of 23 for 13,500 a year. Since then I've gone through jobs like water, never managing to get out of the probation period. The upside is that through all this failing at life, I've managed to swim sideways into IT, a job that I've always wanted to do. I'm studying for exams and finally cracked the 20 grand a year mark. This time next year, I'll be qualified and earning more.

Just goes to show, even if life seems like hell, keep your mind focussed on where you want to be and it'll eventually come together. I may be 26, debt-ridden and still living with my parents, but I'm more economically aware now than many people I know, I'm in the industry I've always wanted to be in and I'm making decent money with the promise of more to come.

Also, when I'm an IT director, I will make it my personal mission to hire people with no experience who want to get into the industry because IT is an absolute grade A bitch to break into.
( Kroney, Fri 24 Nov 2006, 11:53, Reply)