A Blog about repaying Debt

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Hello and thanks for visiting Debt Advice Blog, a blog about repaying debt. The original version of this blog started in September 2012 and I regularly wrote about my debts at that time until the end of 2014. At that point the blog remained dormant and eventually ceased to exist some years later.

In 2022 I managed to reacquire the domain name and tried to restore the blog back to what it was, but given the age of the information, it didn’t really make sense. In January 2024 I decided it was time to start again, and properly write about my debt, because it is back and I have stories to share.

My Debt today

I am in debt to the tune of just over £40,000. Most of this debt is at the stage where it has defaulted. A short description of a default is that it is bad for your credit score, and is issued to you when you have failed to make three payments. Defaulting a debt allows a lender to take further action to recover the money owed to them.

My debt is a mix of Credit Cards, Loans and Car Finance. I recall back in 2012 writing something similar, except my debts at that time also included Payday Loans. Thankfully that industry is not what it once was and for good reason.

When I originally started this blog the first time around, I did manage to get out of the debt I was in which was about £50,000. My latest debt troubles happened over a longer period of time and to a degree fell outside my own control. 2020 was the start of where things started to go wrong as during that time I lost my job. Living beyond my means after this did not help matters.

In addition, during the last couple of years, prices have slowly started to increase putting further pressures on my finances and in September 2023, the bubble burst and I could no longer keep shuffling things around to make ends meet. I had reached my peak debt.

How am I repaying my Debt?

I am in a Debt Management Plan, currently administered by StepChange although I plan to take over this at some point. I already completed a Debt Management Plan to get out of debt the other times and this time things are probably a little easier as there aren’t as many accounts.

It will take a few years to get out of debt and like before, my intention is to write about the journey and share it with others in order to let other people out there who are also in debt know, that they are not alone in their situation.

The advice aspect is more along the lines of don’t do what I did to get into debt in the first place! I will write advice on how I set up my own debt management plan and how I deal with creditors but as always, get independent advice and don’t just trust some random blog on the Internet.

How can you get into Debt again?

That’s a fair question. The answer is because I did. Clearly I have not learned from my past experiences and to some extent have made the same mistakes again. Will this be the last time I get into debt? Honestly I cannot say. Given my track record no, but you never know, perhaps this time will be different. A moto of, I make the financial mistakes so you don’t have to springs to mind right now, perhaps that’s what my purpose is? Who knows.

How does debt affect you?

To me, and this is just me, it’s done. I cannot change what happened in the past, I can only try and make the future better (and potentially screw that up too). Yes debt has impacted my life and yes there have been consequences to it. I can’t change that so I am not going to dwell on it. It’s a problem for which I can enact a solution and deal with it.

There is a lot of support out there and true, it does mean making some adjustments to how I spend money but that’s just the cards I have been dealt, and to some extent have laid down myself. In other words, I am disappointed about it but I am not letting it consume me. Being in debt in 2012, I could have learned from that but I didn’t so here we are again. I am typing about it on the Internet and you are reading about it.

What advice would I offer?

If you are in debt and are struggling then my advice is to get help. One thing I have learned from the past is ignoring debt can make things worse. Dealing with it means you take back some control and can set a path to a better future. In the UK there are a number of places you can get help such as StepChange Debt Charity, Citizens Advice or Payplan. My advice is simple, take back control by getting help.

Thanks for reading and good luck with your debt!

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