who has lived a life of debt...

Congrats OP wonderful achievement :) good luck with the saving!

I'm the opposite...never had any debt and never borrowed. I only own one credit card and pay that off (I'm probably the only one who looks forward to get the paper statement) as soon as it arrives. I think not having much money through my teens and early twenties has tought me to appreciate what you have, and to not spend beyond your means.

The only time I did borrow was to bail out my brother who purchased a computer 10 years ago on HP with a high APR of 27%, so I took out a loan with 7% at my bank and paid it off early for him - he's learnt his lesson!

I still live very frugally now. I will add that some debt is inevitable for some people, if you want to do things career/job wise than loans are necessary/compulsory, just be prepared to pay them off and stay in control!
 
MilanoChris said:
Have you tried writing to Vodafone's CEO? If you send him an email, someone from the directors office will call you back.

[email protected]
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I've taken it as far as Vodafones credit controllers, who said the default was put on there because its 'representative of how I handled the account at the time'.

And as it stands, the way I 'handled the account at the time', will not change, so I have to wait until 2012 until it comes off by law.

Massively, massively frustrating and makes me want to honestly kill the lad who blagged me to get the sales commission.
 
Yeah, I made some ridiculous decisions when I was 18-21. Had a cavalier attitude to debt and was of the mindset that paying it off could wait. Ended up almost £35k in debt and that wasn't even including any student loans.

Since then I've really changed my outlook and I've realised how important it is to handle these things sensibly. I'm 26 now and I've got about £3,000 left to pay before I'm debt free. My credit file should be excellent in 2012 after really struggling for the last few years. Everything I've got on my file in the last four years has been paid on time every month, whereas the two years previous are really affecting my record.

Still, once I'm clear it's just a case of maintaining financial sensibility.
 
If you do not own a property etc you can legally not pay your creditors. You spent 5 years paying off a debt you never had to as either way your credit can only be bad for 6 years.

Governments and loan companies scare people with the word debt with automated letters that scare people into phoning these companies and acknowledging the debt. There are many legal ways you can just write the debts off without paying a penny!

I'm not saying that repaying them is wrong. Its the correct thing to do, but you could quite easily and legaly keep borrowing large amounts every 6 years and never have to pay a penny back.

My point is these companies throw money at people and then use scare tactics which make the borrowers life hell.

Obviously you borrow you pay it back is the mainstream view. I just thought id give you another view to mull over. :)
 
Currently this month I owe £20,050. Paying it off at a
Rate if £650 a month. It started off at £38,000

Been in debt since I was 19 years old.

Basically it was down to me being stupid with credit cards and be able to get loans when I was young. As had a good job. I will be debt free when I'm 31. So two a bit years to go.

Two of the main loans were for 7 years.

But at the moment I have 999 credit rating. And didn't have todo that IVA route.

It's very depressing at times, and I couldn't yell you where the money has gone.

Tried topping myself in early in twenties.

I regret it all. And I just wish I listened to my dad about fast cars and faster women.

Hey ho
 
People say that the credit crunch was caused by bad debt, and I'm 35 now, I can remember back in late 90's and early 00's when loan offers, credit card offers, pretty much every offer of lending would pop through the door on a daily basis. How many people on this thread have started their post 'went mad with credit cards when I was 21...'

Would this happen in 2011? I doubt it. I think the banks have learned their lesson.
 
Michaeljcox24 said:
People say that the credit crunch was caused by bad debt, and I'm 35 now, I can remember back in late 90's and early 00's when loan offers, credit card offers, pretty much every offer of lending would pop through the door on a daily basis. How many people on this thread have started their post 'went mad with credit cards when I was 21...'

Would this happen in 2011? I doubt it. I think the banks have learned their lesson.
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Well I can check back. But just after 2000. That's when it went all down hill :(
 
Had a good few thousand in debt when I was 21, I lost my job and didn't find another in 8 months, I had 2 store cards, 1 credit card at the limit and an overdraft at the limit, they all defaulted and I even got a CCJ,I've been paying it off for the past 3 years and have finally cleared it in the last couple of months
 
DAMO RAM80 said:
Well I can check back. But just after 2000. That's when it went all down hill :(
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One of my friends ended up in £19000 worth of debt, purely from banks lending him money, credit cards, then trying to solve the problem by taking out consolidation loans.

He was probably taking home £190 a week at the time. Bloke tried to top himself in the end, but after several counselling sessions applied for bankruptcy and now is the tightest tight wad I know.

Wouldn't happen nowadays. I think everyone (borrowers and those who want to live outside of their means) have learned their lesson.
 
Rizo-UK said:
Just a random thread really, but id like to share my joy :p

Im now 24 but whilst i was 18 i was an idiot with money, loans, CC etc and it all went pear shaped :( money repaid etc now but for the last 5 years i havent been able to get even a basic bank account or phone contract due to a REALLY sore credit rating.

I work full time, my employer pays me via cash (all tax and NI is paid) but it was getting a bit tedious using/storing 1K cash per month for the last couple of years.

Now i tried to open a natwest current account before christmas but they flat out refused. I only needed a basic account, no debit card, DD, OD, etc. wages in, cash out kinda thing.

Now i tried Barclays who i was with 5 years ago (debt wasnt with them) and they accepted me straight away with a current account with VISA debit but no OD or Chequebook which is fine as i dont need either.

5 years without a bank account is proper ****. cant do anything.

Now im back on the credit/money ladder and will NOT **** up this time.

All my debt is repaid (17k) and i hope to start saving around £600 a month ready for moving out later this year.

I moved out last year with my misses but she turned around and said she didnt love me anymore so i ended up moving back home with mummy and daddy :p so i have been clearing debts at a good rate.

So who else has been down this route?
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Surely you can get the type of account which doesn't let you spend money you don't have? Isn't the problem with normal accounts the fact that most debit cards have a guaranteed amount, thus allowing you to spend pretty much any amount as long as its less than £100 a shop?
 
Unfortunately in years to come it will be back. People have short memories and others will not have seen the problems it caused.

I remember interest rates well in the teens, and that was the base rate. Almost a whole generation has not seen those rates and can't believe that they were there and people had to pay them. I would stake everthing I own that at some point before I pop my clogs interest base rate will be above 10% again.

Worst thing for the economy in general is that now is precisely when we could do with everyone borrowing a bit and spending to help prop up the economy but due to job losses etc people are all doing the opposite, trying to get their finances into as good a place as they can, which for most is belt tightening and removal/reduction of luxuries.
 
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