I Am In Debt
Fourteen months ago I brought a relationship to an end that was making me unhappy. I know I did the right thing, but I thought that life would be much easier than it has been since the breakup.
After a few months I realised that there was no way I could pay all the bills, loans and general expenses on my income. I work full time and earn a reasonable salary I guess - it is not high, but as I have no qualifications other than my training qualifications I would be very limited as to what other jobs I could do.
At first when I realised that I could not pay all of my debts I panicked - the amount I owe is large for me, certainly more than I have ever owed before - I was worried about people coming to the door demanding payment or maybe having bailiffs come marching in and take everything I have.
I went to a reputable debts counselling service - they made no charges for their help, they explained that the amount I owe was really not that much, no-one was going to come after me for it and all I needed to do was work out a proper budget and once all of the essentials were taken care of, make my creditors an offer.
Well it took several months as I was told it would, but now the I have agreements in place to pay what I can afford on the debts that I owe my old bank, and they are no longer charging me interest or adding any other charges. It will take a long time to repay the debt - if it is ever fully repaid, but at least now it is not such a worrying situation and who knows, every now and then I might be able to pay a small lump sum of one or two of the debts until they are all repaid.
For those of you reading this who might be really worried - do not try to hide from the problem, make a list of what you owe and who too, make a list of what you must spend each month to survive and then go and get professional help. Take all of the information with you. There are good organisations out there who provide a free service, one such organisation is Christians against poverty. Get some help, hold your ground and do not agree privately to pay any of your creditors any more than you can afford. If they contact you directly refer them to the organisation that is helping you. Believe me it does get better, I know, as I was really worried - but now life is slowly starting to improve.
After a few months I realised that there was no way I could pay all the bills, loans and general expenses on my income. I work full time and earn a reasonable salary I guess - it is not high, but as I have no qualifications other than my training qualifications I would be very limited as to what other jobs I could do.
At first when I realised that I could not pay all of my debts I panicked - the amount I owe is large for me, certainly more than I have ever owed before - I was worried about people coming to the door demanding payment or maybe having bailiffs come marching in and take everything I have.
I went to a reputable debts counselling service - they made no charges for their help, they explained that the amount I owe was really not that much, no-one was going to come after me for it and all I needed to do was work out a proper budget and once all of the essentials were taken care of, make my creditors an offer.
Well it took several months as I was told it would, but now the I have agreements in place to pay what I can afford on the debts that I owe my old bank, and they are no longer charging me interest or adding any other charges. It will take a long time to repay the debt - if it is ever fully repaid, but at least now it is not such a worrying situation and who knows, every now and then I might be able to pay a small lump sum of one or two of the debts until they are all repaid.
For those of you reading this who might be really worried - do not try to hide from the problem, make a list of what you owe and who too, make a list of what you must spend each month to survive and then go and get professional help. Take all of the information with you. There are good organisations out there who provide a free service, one such organisation is Christians against poverty. Get some help, hold your ground and do not agree privately to pay any of your creditors any more than you can afford. If they contact you directly refer them to the organisation that is helping you. Believe me it does get better, I know, as I was really worried - but now life is slowly starting to improve.
By:
tcennoC
Age:
51-55
,
Male
