I remember my first debt, it was my 1 year anniversary with my then girlfriend (now wife), I knew I couldn’t afford a high end date, but that was what she wanted. So with 3 days to go before the day, I got a credit card, and my problem was (short-term) solved.
That was it for the longest of times, then really my problems came with the COVID-19 pandemic, we were in lockdown after lockdown, you needed a permit to go to work, lines blurred between what work was and what home was, interest rates on mortgages rising, cost of living increasing, I found myself perpetually falling behind, and instead of making calls, I found myself going down the path of least resistance, which was to borrow small amounts, to over depend on buy now pay later, and then, ultimately, the worst of all payday loan/pay in advance apps. I got to the extent where all but $23 of my pay check was going out into loans of some type, which I’d then borrow back for the fortnight, rinse and repeat, completely entrapped by the situation.
Then, at the end of 2023, came a blessing in disguise, I lost my long term job, and spent close to 7 months unemployed. It was a blessing because it stopped the cycle dead in its tracks, I simply couldn’t repay, things went into hardship agreements or out to collection agencies. And even though my situation was (and still is) bad, I had escaped the cycle.
In January this year I gained full-time employment on a permanent basis, the total amount I owed (excluding my mortgage) on credit cards, unsecured loans, BNPL and payday loans at the time of my first pay-check stood at $69502.26. And with my fortnightly income, and a professionally set budget, I am in a position to begin the process of getting this weight off of my shoulders and paying this amount back.
This blog then is not to advise others, nor is it financial advice. It is to serve as a fortnightly outlet for my story of excessive debt, and experience with borrowing and owing money in all its forms, and as a fortnightly countdown to becoming debt-free.
After my first pay cycle last Friday, I have knocked $1115 off of the total owed, to now stand at $68387.26.
Credit scores stand at;
202illion.
301experian.
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