Some of you reading this will have followed my diary (and for those I really do appreciate the support you have provided), but I thought I'd tell everyone my debt story. Don't worry it has a nice ending!
405 days ago I hit rock bottom. I gambled away my entire wage and yearly bonus in 1 night. This was my rent money, my living money, and worst of all, my honeymoon payment. I came clean to my wife the next day. It was the end of my relationship. I had to move out of the home I'd helped build. I had to leave the life I cared so much about. I was in real trouble, and I deserved it. I contacted Stepchange in those first few days. All in my debt repayments were close to 2K a month totalling nearly 50K. That's before I could even consider having money to live off. To pay any rent. To eat! It was a tough call admitting to someone how much debt I was in, but Stepchange were amazing. They handled everything (after a bit of work from me getting together details of loans), and before long I had a plan in place. One payment of £999 a month for about 4 years. Sounds horrendous, but I knew I could make it work.
Long story short, I got a place to live, I worked all the hours under the sun, I put any additional money I had into this payment plan to bring down the timeline. Yes it was tough. Yes some months were very tight, and yes I got a little bit back through fighting for unfair lending and back pay on a military pension, but I worked so hard to get rid of the debt.
Yesterday, just over a year later, I managed to pay off the final balance of my Stepchange DMP. My credit rating is shot, but I can now rebuild. I now have an extra £999 each month. I am now debt free!!!!!!!!
For anyone who is considering contacting Stepchange, please do. Yes it will hurt your credit score, but so will being in debt for an additional 10 years. A DMP will stop interest and get the debt paid off in half the time. Best thing you'll ever do.
This is not the end of my journey. I now have additional cash each month. Additional risks. Temptations. My non gambling journey has just begun really.Â
Don't think your life is over. Day 1 is tough, but tackle it head on and you too can reach day 405.Â
Anyway, I'm off to plan on what I can spend my extra cash on!!! My favourite saying is that 'we gamble to win the life we would have had if we didn't gamble'. That's me now. I feel rich. It's what I dreamt of when gambling. Now I have to keep it.
Good luck, and stay strong 👍
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻well done mate, great to hear.Â
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Such a good story! Congrats!
What an achievement, great job on paying it off and staying gamble free!
Well done! I wish to read this kind of story every day. I wish this story to be my story. I did a huge mess last time I gambled (one week ago) and now I am in a huge debt (£28K). It is hard for me and I really don’t know how to tackle it down. I guess I have to take it one day at a time. How a DMP will stop interest and get the debt paid off in half the time? What you done to get that? How you managed to win through unfair lending? What did you had to prove to the creditor/s that they lend money to you and it was unfair because of your gambling issues?
@lq6y3oaexn - This can be your story too. Contact Stepchange, they will talk you through everything. They contact your lenders and arrange to pay them off at a lower rate and almost all will stop any interest charges. You wont have to talk to your lenders at all. Stepchange do everything for you. If you are not paying interest, your debt will clear much quicker.
I went through a company to try and claim unfair lending. You can do it yourself, but I didn't want the hassle. This meant the company took 25% of any case I won. They asked me for all loans and bank statements and then they fought to say it was unfair. To be honest most of my loans should never have been approved. I was clearly a gambling addict! Luckily some agreed and paid back the interest on the loans. this wasn't huge but it took the numbers down nicely.
Take a few days to contact Stepchange and look into other things like unfair lending. It needs a bit of work on your part getting together all your information but definitely worth it. You can try contact your lenders direct and see if they will let you pay things more sensibly, but if you have lots of debt, Stepchange is probably the best option. Then you can focus on paying it down and staying GF.
Good luck and stay strong 👍Â
Weirdfish……well done my friend. You have always supported me over the years of botched failed attempts of quitting. 10 years of 250k losses, maxed out loans and credit cards. I am so pleased that you have reached that debt free goal.Â
I still have 45k of debt and paying £1100 a month off. It’s hard to comprehend the painful days ahead until I become debt free. I cannot go the route you did with stepchange unfortunately.Â
I am 85 days gamble free today. One day I hope I can come on here to tell you I am debt free like you.Â
Keep clean and enjoy the extra money.Â
weirdfish wow....... what a really great read and greta achievement this is.....all those extra hours, all that negotiating, and the final result 405 days later wow....this is amazing.... keep at it see u in chat mate adam
Yes Fish!
This is absolutely amazing news. So pleased for you and I echo your sentiment with regards to getting in touch with Step Change. I'm just over a year into my DMP. £889 a month to clear £35k of debt. I had my review recently where they told me I could have monthly bill reduced because my debts have decreased but I told them to keep it the same so get it paid off quicker. Hopefully this time next year, like you, I'll also be debt free. I cannot wait!
Genuinely, I'm beaming reading this. Well deserved through hard work and determination.
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Thanks folks. Stepchange really do change lives, and they do it so effortlessly. They do all the work for you. Cant praise them enough. Add into that the hard work you put in yourself and you really can get your life back on track.
@Jay - Good shout not reducing the payments. Get it paid off as quick as you can. This is my first month of not paying Stepchange. It feels weird seeing that extra £999 in my bank this month, but I'm not complaining!!
Got a credit card as my credit score has improved slightly. This should help it improve more. Don't get me wrong, it will take years to be anywhere near good, but knowing I can handle having one now is amazing. I literally buy a bar of chocolate or something, then leave the card at home. Pay it off at end of month and it should bump my score up. This would not have been possible is I hadn't gone to Stepchange. I reckon I would still be in debt for 5 years plus, and then would have to start to rebuild my credit score. Now I can do it from now.
For those worried about entering a debt management plan and it's impact on your score, remember the above. 5-10 years of debt repayments, reduced to 2-3 years (quicker if you overpay). No brainer. Take the hit, get out of debt, build that score up again.
PS - this is not professional financial advice and I am in no way qualified to offer it! 🤣Â
Stay strong 👍Â
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